Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. Has $37.86 Million Position in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. decreased its position in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 54.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 948,863 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,121,299 shares during the quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. owned approximately 0.34% of Essential Utilities worth $37,860,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the second quarter worth $102,347,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Essential Utilities by 25.5% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,972,565 shares of the company’s stock worth $354,057,000 after purchasing an additional 1,822,306 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in Essential Utilities by 1,572.4% during the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,271,201 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,212,000 after purchasing an additional 1,195,189 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Essential Utilities by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,407,634 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,129,340,000 after purchasing an additional 693,988 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Essential Utilities by 851.4% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 717,716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,541,000 after purchasing an additional 642,277 shares during the period. 74.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essential Utilities Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of NYSE WTRG opened at $38.70 on Friday. Essential Utilities Inc. has a twelve month low of $34.58 and a twelve month high of $42.37. The stock has a market cap of $10.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.06 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The company’s fifty day moving average is $38.74 and its 200-day moving average is $38.86.

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

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.3426 per share. This represents a $1.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 9th. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is 56.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WTRG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Janney Montgomery Scott cut shares of Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 target price (down previously from $46.00) on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $47.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Robert W. Baird lowered Essential Utilities from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Essential Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.