Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG Stock Holdings Lessened by Hennessy Advisors Inc.

Hennessy Advisors Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 13.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 106,200 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,000 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $4,237,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. SouthState Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 834.7% during the second quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 701 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 626 shares during the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in Essential Utilities during the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Bfsg LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 39.2% in the second quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 2,022 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 569 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 92.4% during the second quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 2,540 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,000 after acquiring an additional 1,220 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 168.3% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,747 shares of the company’s stock valued at $102,000 after acquiring an additional 1,723 shares in the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essential Utilities Stock Down 0.3%

WTRG opened at $38.32 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.84 billion, a PE ratio of 15.90 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.43. Essential Utilities Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $33.18 and a fifty-two week high of $42.37. The business has a 50-day moving average of $38.90 and a 200-day moving average of $38.61.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $476.97 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $472.40 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 28.09% and a return on equity of 10.20%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.25 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 12th were paid a $0.3426 dividend. This represents a $1.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 12th. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is presently 56.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on WTRG shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a research note on Monday. Barclays set a $38.00 price objective on Essential Utilities and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Northcoast Research raised Essential Utilities from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Baird R W lowered shares of Essential Utilities from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Essential Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essential Utilities currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $43.29.

Essential Utilities Company 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.