ProShare Advisors LLC Has $30.94 Million Stock Position in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 775,154 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 9,972 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC owned 0.29% of Essential Utilities worth $30,936,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WTRG. WealthPLAN Partners LLC bought a new stake in Essential Utilities in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. BOKF NA bought a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 160.5% during the second quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 732 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 451 shares during the period. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the 1st quarter worth $38,000. 73.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on WTRG shares. Northcoast Research raised Essential Utilities from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 28th. TheStreet downgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Friday, September 15th. Edward Jones upgraded Essential Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 3rd. UBS Group decreased their price target on Essential Utilities from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 4th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Essential Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.25.

Essential Utilities Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:WTRG opened at $35.03 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $34.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.18. The company has a market cap of $9.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.46, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.31. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a one year low of $32.07 and a one year high of $49.89.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 6th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.01. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 8.52% and a net margin of 20.95%. The firm had revenue of $411.26 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $455.20 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.26 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 10th will be issued a $0.3071 dividend. This represents a $1.23 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 9th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.78%.

Essential Utilities 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.