Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) Short Interest Update

Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 6,377,574 shares, a growth of 26.5% from the December 31st total of 5,042,728 shares. Currently, 2.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,704,428 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.7 days. Based on an average daily volume of 1,704,428 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.7 days. Currently, 2.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Trading of Essential Utilities

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Essential Utilities by 587.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,071,929 shares of the company’s stock worth $162,472,000 after acquiring an additional 3,479,762 shares in the last quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $128,137,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $102,347,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 25.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Essential Utilities by 1,572.4% during the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,271,201 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,212,000 after buying an additional 1,195,189 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of WTRG stock traded down $0.40 on Tuesday, reaching $37.85. 2,373,031 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,813,686. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $38.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.90. Essential Utilities has a 52 week low of $34.58 and a 52 week high of $42.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.71 billion, a PE ratio of 15.71 and a beta of 0.81.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $476.97 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $472.40 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 28.09%.The business’s revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.25 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Essential Utilities will post 1.99 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th will be paid a $0.3426 dividend. This represents a $1.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 9th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on WTRG. Janney Montgomery Scott lowered Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Essential Utilities from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Barclays set a $38.00 price target on shares of Essential Utilities and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Northcoast Research upgraded Essential Utilities from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.29.

About Essential Utilities

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.