19,749 Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG Shares Sold by Pathway Financial Advisers LLC

Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lowered its position in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 65.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,585 shares of the company’s stock after selling 19,749 shares during the quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $415,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the 3rd quarter valued at about $714,000. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in Essential Utilities in the third quarter worth approximately $488,000. Covestor Ltd raised its position in Essential Utilities by 749.5% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 1,514 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Essential Utilities in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Essential Utilities by 1.9% in the third quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 720,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,229,000 after acquiring an additional 13,221 shares during the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. UBS Group cut their target price on Essential Utilities from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Essential Utilities from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.00.

Essential Utilities Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of WTRG stock opened at $46.12 on Friday. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 12 month low of $36.10 and a 12 month high of $46.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The business’s 50 day moving average is $41.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.53. The company has a market cap of $13.09 billion, a PE ratio of 23.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.62.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 3rd. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $508.26 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $450.44 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 21.79% and a return on equity of 8.36%. Essential Utilities’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.33 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.21 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.3606 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 10th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is 72.36%.

Essential Utilities Profile

Essential Utilities, Inc is a regulated utility company that provides water, wastewater and natural gas services to residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers. Through its Aqua and Peoples operations, the company owns and operates water and wastewater systems, natural gas distribution networks and related infrastructure. Its services include the treatment and delivery of drinking water, collection and treatment of wastewater, and the distribution of natural gas.

The company serves customers across several U.S.