ProShare Advisors LLC Buys 68,177 Shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 8.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 873,797 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 68,177 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $31,736,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 59.0% in the fourth quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 19,327 shares of the company’s stock worth $702,000 after acquiring an additional 7,171 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,645,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 24.1% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 58,006 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,107,000 after acquiring an additional 11,253 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth grew its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 21,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $773,000 after acquiring an additional 1,646 shares during the period. Finally, Ensign Peak Advisors Inc grew its position in Essential Utilities by 74.6% during the fourth quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 1,593,053 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,860,000 after buying an additional 680,760 shares during the period. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WTRG. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report 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 report on Tuesday, January 28th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.50.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WTRG opened at $38.88 on Friday. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 1-year low of $33.18 and a 1-year high of $41.78. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The company has a market capitalization of $10.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.85.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $783.63 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $713.80 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 27.84% and a return on equity of 7.89%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.97 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.3255 per share. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is 58.30%.

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.