Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG Shares Sold by Pathway Financial Advisers LLC

Pathway Financial Advisers LLC reduced its holdings in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 65.1% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 10,585 shares of the company’s stock after selling 19,749 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $415,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WTRG. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the second quarter worth $1,280,829,000. State Street Corp increased its position in Essential Utilities by 5.5% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,119,170 shares of the company’s stock worth $502,595,000 after acquiring an additional 687,688 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the second quarter valued at about $134,247,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 1,224.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,233,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $126,728,000 after acquiring an additional 2,989,455 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Essential Utilities by 3.8% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,881,490 shares of the company’s stock worth $116,049,000 after purchasing an additional 106,252 shares during the period. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essential Utilities Trading Up 2.2%

WTRG opened at $46.12 on Friday. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 1-year low of $36.10 and a 1-year high of $46.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.09 billion, a PE ratio of 23.18, a PEG ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $41.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.53.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 3rd. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $508.26 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $450.44 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 8.36% and a net margin of 21.79%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.33 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 10th will be paid a $0.3606 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 10th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is 72.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on WTRG. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Essential Utilities from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Essential Utilities from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 16th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Essential Utilities from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.00.

Essential Utilities Company Profile

Essential Utilities, Inc is a regulated utility company that provides water, wastewater and natural gas services to residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers. Through its Aqua and Peoples operations, the company owns and operates water and wastewater systems, natural gas distribution networks and related infrastructure. Its services include the treatment and delivery of drinking water, collection and treatment of wastewater, and the distribution of natural gas.

The company serves customers across several U.S.