Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 62.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 35,552 shares of the company’s stock after selling 59,683 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $1,419,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. American National Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Essential Utilities during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp grew its holdings in Essential Utilities by 1,163.8% in the third quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 733 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in Essential Utilities by 43.6% in the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,114 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 141.2% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 1,213 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 710 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the 3rd quarter valued at $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE WTRG opened at $39.79 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.06. The stock has a market cap of $11.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.01 and a beta of 0.82. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 12-month low of $36.32 and a 12-month high of $42.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $699.11 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $611.60 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 24.91% and a return on equity of 9.18%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.67 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.3426 per share. This represents a $1.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 12th. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is presently 61.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WTRG. Northcoast Research raised Essential Utilities from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Barclays set a $38.00 target price on Essential Utilities and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Monday, December 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essential Utilities has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.20.

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.