Raymond James Financial Inc. Purchases New Position in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 203,264 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,383,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.07% of Essential Utilities at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WTRG. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in Essential Utilities by 75.0% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,104 shares of the company's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 473 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $90,000. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on WTRG shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Essential Utilities from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $41.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Essential Utilities from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com raised Essential Utilities from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, April 20th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Essential Utilities currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $43.50.

Essential Utilities Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE:WTRG traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $40.43. The company's stock had a trading volume of 85,148 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,457,008. The company has a market cap of $11.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.80. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a one year low of $33.18 and a one year high of $41.78. The business's 50-day moving average is $39.02 and its 200-day moving average is $37.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.39.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $604.38 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $698.77 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 27.84% and a return on equity of 7.89%. Equities research analysts predict that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $0.3255 per share. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 13th. Essential Utilities's dividend payout ratio is currently 59.91%.

About Essential Utilities

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.