Short Interest in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) Grows By 14.6%

Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 7,835,006 shares, a growth of 14.6% from the February 12th total of 6,837,681 shares. Currently, 2.8% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 5,198,083 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.5 days. Based on an average trading volume of 5,198,083 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.5 days. Currently, 2.8% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WTRG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays set a $38.00 price target on shares of Essential Utilities and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of 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 Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.20.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of WTRG traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $41.05. The stock had a trading volume of 697,269 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,563,392. Essential Utilities has a 52 week low of $36.32 and a 52 week high of $42.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $39.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $39.10. The firm has a market cap of $11.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.56 and a beta of 0.81.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.11. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 9.18% and a net margin of 24.91%.The company had revenue of $699.11 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $611.60 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.67 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Essential Utilities will post 1.99 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be paid a $0.3426 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $1.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.99%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 26.1% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 13,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $533,000 after acquiring an additional 2,873 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 45,517 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,747,000 after purchasing an additional 4,351 shares during the period. S Harris Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Essential Utilities during the 4th quarter worth about $253,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Essential Utilities during the 4th quarter worth about $6,963,000. Finally, Compound Planning Inc. boosted its stake in Essential Utilities by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 11,613 shares of the company’s stock worth $445,000 after purchasing an additional 803 shares during the period. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Essential Utilities Company 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.