DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main Has $12.85 Million Stock Position in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its position in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) by 233.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 353,672 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 247,629 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main owned approximately 0.13% of Essential Utilities worth $12,845,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WTRG. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Essential Utilities by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,061,135 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,091,820,000 after purchasing an additional 2,245,256 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 31.2% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 6,726,215 shares of the company's stock worth $244,296,000 after buying an additional 1,597,672 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,317,312 shares of the company's stock valued at $156,526,000 after purchasing an additional 11,336 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,690,116 shares of the company's stock valued at $134,025,000 after purchasing an additional 236,250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 22.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,331,090 shares of the company's stock valued at $120,985,000 after purchasing an additional 601,026 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.78% of the company's stock.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

Shares of WTRG stock traded up $0.85 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $37.81. 766,937 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,640,406. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a twelve month low of $33.18 and a twelve month high of $41.78. The firm has a market cap of $10.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.85. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $39.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.55.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $783.63 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $713.80 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 7.89% and a net margin of 27.84%. Essential Utilities's revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.97 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share 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 paid a $0.3255 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.44%. Essential Utilities's dividend payout ratio is currently 58.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WTRG. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of 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 raised shares of 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. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Essential Utilities from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, April 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Essential Utilities has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $43.50.

Essential Utilities Profile

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.