Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG Shares Purchased by Korea Investment CORP

Korea Investment CORP raised its position in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 107.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 281,248 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 145,919 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP owned about 0.10% of Essential Utilities worth $11,222,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WTRG. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $638,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 12,861 shares of the company’s stock valued at $508,000 after purchasing an additional 928 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 29,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,173,000 after purchasing an additional 530 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 122.7% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 943,797 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,308,000 after purchasing an additional 519,933 shares during the period. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth increased its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 22,322 shares of the company’s stock worth $882,000 after purchasing an additional 1,044 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities Stock Up 0.7%

Essential Utilities stock opened at $39.79 on Thursday. Essential Utilities Inc. has a twelve month low of $36.32 and a twelve month high of $42.37. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $39.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.01 and a beta of 0.82.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.11. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 9.18% and a net margin of 24.91%.The firm had revenue of $699.11 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $611.60 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.67 earnings per share. Essential Utilities’s revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.3426 per share. This represents a $1.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 12th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WTRG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays set a $38.00 target price on shares of Essential Utilities and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Northcoast Research raised Essential Utilities from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.20.

Essential Utilities Profile

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.