First Manhattan CO. LLC. Has $6.53 Million Stock Holdings in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

First Manhattan CO. LLC. decreased its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 179,893 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,622 shares during the period. First Manhattan CO. LLC.’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $6,534,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WTRG. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in Essential Utilities by 75.0% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,104 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 473 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new position in Essential Utilities in the 4th quarter worth $45,000. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in Essential Utilities by 98.9% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,565 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 778 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter valued at about $60,000. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on WTRG. StockNews.com raised Essential Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 20th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $41.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Essential Utilities from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.50.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

Essential Utilities stock opened at $40.74 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $39.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market cap of $11.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.85. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 52 week low of $33.18 and a 52 week high of $41.78.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.01. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 27.84% and a return on equity of 7.89%. The business had revenue of $604.38 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $698.77 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be issued a $0.3255 dividend. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is 59.91%.

Essential Utilities Company Profile

Essential Utilities, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates regulated utilities that provide water, wastewater, or natural gas services in the United States. The company operates through Regulated Water and Regulated Natural Gas segments. It offers water services through operating and maintenance contract with municipal authorities and other parties.