Alps Advisors Inc. Grows Position in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Alps Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 75.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 133,963 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 57,689 shares during the period. Alps Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $5,345,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WTRG. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Essential Utilities by 2.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,407,634 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,129,340,000 after buying an additional 693,988 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Essential Utilities by 25.5% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,972,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $354,057,000 after purchasing an additional 1,822,306 shares during the period. Amundi raised its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 5,637,022 shares of the company’s stock worth $218,997,000 after buying an additional 146,960 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,734,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $175,313,000 after buying an additional 173,319 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,488,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,578,000 after buying an additional 136,270 shares in the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WTRG. Janney Montgomery Scott cut shares of Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a research report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective (down from $46.00) on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Essential Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Essential Utilities has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $43.29.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

WTRG stock opened at $36.91 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $10.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.32 and a beta of 0.81. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 52-week low of $34.58 and a 52-week high of $42.37. The business has a fifty day moving average of $38.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th will be given a dividend of $0.3426 per share. This represents a $1.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 9th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.85%.

Essential Utilities Profile

Essential Utilities, Inc, formerly known as Aqua America, is a publicly traded water and natural gas utility holding company. Through its regulated water and wastewater subsidiaries, the company provides essential water services to residential, commercial and industrial customers. In addition, Essential Utilities delivers natural gas distribution services in Pennsylvania through its Peoples Gas subsidiary, offering integrated utility solutions under a unified corporate framework.

The company traces its roots to the Philadelphia Suburban Water Company, founded in 1886 to serve growing communities outside Philadelphia.