Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. Sells 138,378 Shares of Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Key Points

• Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. cut its stake in Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) by 37.4% in Q4, selling 138,378 shares and retaining 231,228 shares worth $8.87 million.
• Essential Utilities topped Q4 expectations with $0.47 EPS versus $0.36 expected and $699.11 million in revenue (up 15.7% year-over-year), and analysts forecast about 1.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.3426 (annualized $1.37) for a ~3.5% yield (ex-dividend May 12, payable June 1), while Wall Street consensus rates the stock a Hold with a $43.20 average price target.

Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. lessened its position in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) by 37.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 231,228 shares of the company's stock after selling 138,378 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. owned 0.08% of Essential Utilities worth $8,870,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WTRG. GoalVest Advisory LLC bought a new position in Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. American National Bank & Trust bought a new position in Essential Utilities during the third quarter worth $27,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp raised its stake in Essential Utilities by 1,163.8% during the third quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 733 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 675 shares during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its stake in Essential Utilities by 31,466.7% during the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 947 shares of the company's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 944 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in Essential Utilities by 43.6% during the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,114 shares of the company's stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Argus raised shares of Essential Utilities to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Barclays set a $38.00 price target on shares of Essential Utilities and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $43.20.

Essential Utilities Stock Down 2.7%

Shares of NYSE WTRG opened at $39.56 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.90 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $39.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $39.43. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 1 year low of $36.32 and a 1 year 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.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $699.11 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $611.60 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 24.91% and a return on equity of 9.18%. The business's revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.67 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.3426 per share. This represents a $1.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 12th. Essential Utilities's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.99%.

Essential Utilities 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.

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