17,563 Shares in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) Bought by Brighton Jones LLC

Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 17,563 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $638,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 14,243 shares of the company’s stock worth $549,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in Essential Utilities by 61.4% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 773 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares during the period. Tompkins Financial Corp boosted its stake in Essential Utilities by 21.7% in the third quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 1,685 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,946 shares of the company’s stock valued at $180,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the period. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 3,477 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,000 after acquiring an additional 333 shares during the period. 74.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on WTRG shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Essential Utilities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $43.00 to $39.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $44.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.00.

Essential Utilities Stock Down 0.3 %

WTRG opened at $33.49 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $9.20 billion, a PE ratio of 16.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 52 week low of $33.18 and a 52 week high of $41.78. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.58.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $435.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $416.95 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 7.89% and a net margin of 27.84%. The company’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.30 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $0.3255 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.89%. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.00%.

About Essential Utilities

Essential Utilities, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates regulated utilities that provide water, wastewater, or natural gas services in the United States. The company operates through Regulated Water and Regulated Natural Gas segments. It offers water services through operating and maintenance contract with municipal authorities and other parties.