Janus Henderson Group PLC Increases Position in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) by 24.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 58,006 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 11,253 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC's holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $2,107,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Blair William & Co. IL raised its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 24,652 shares of the company's stock valued at $895,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV increased its holdings in Essential Utilities by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 6,342 shares of the company's stock valued at $230,000 after buying an additional 289 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in Essential Utilities by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 70,100 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,546,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC increased its holdings in Essential Utilities by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 19,527 shares of the company's stock valued at $709,000 after buying an additional 317 shares during the period. Finally, First Affirmative Financial Network increased its holdings in Essential Utilities by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 9,994 shares of the company's stock valued at $363,000 after buying an additional 351 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WTRG. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a 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 on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Essential Utilities from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, April 20th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $43.50.

Essential Utilities Stock Down 0.1%

NYSE WTRG traded down $0.05 on Tuesday, hitting $38.81. The stock had a trading volume of 1,365,428 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,468,627. The business's fifty day moving average price is $39.42 and its 200 day moving average price 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $33.18 and a 52-week high of $41.78. The stock has a market cap of $10.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.85.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 12th. The company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $783.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $713.80 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 27.84% and a return on equity of 7.89%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.97 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current year.

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.