Barclays PLC Acquires 90,746 Shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) by 25.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 442,767 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 90,746 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned 0.16% of Essential Utilities worth $16,080,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the 4th quarter valued at $102,600,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Essential Utilities by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,061,135 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,091,820,000 after buying an additional 2,245,256 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 31.2% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 6,726,215 shares of the company's stock valued at $244,296,000 after buying an additional 1,597,672 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 6,811,851 shares of the company's stock worth $247,134,000 after buying an additional 972,803 shares during the period. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 51.3% in the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,935,818 shares of the company's stock valued at $70,309,000 after acquiring an additional 656,136 shares during the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Essential Utilities Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE WTRG traded down $0.45 during trading on Friday, hitting $39.92. The company had a trading volume of 284,975 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,668,827. The company's fifty day moving average is $38.83 and its 200-day moving average is $37.96. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a one year low of $33.18 and a one year high of $41.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The company has a market cap of $11.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.80.

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

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be paid a $0.3255 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. Essential Utilities's payout ratio is 59.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.