Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Buys 741,587 Shares of Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Key Points

• Pictet Asset Management increased its stake in Essential Utilities by 19.5% in Q4, buying 741,587 shares to hold 4,539,977 shares (about 1.60% of the company) valued at $174.16 million.
• Q4 results beat expectations: Essential Utilities reported EPS of $0.47 versus a $0.36 consensus and revenue of $699.11 million (up 15.7% year-over-year, versus $611.6 million expected).
• Dividend announced: a quarterly payout of $0.3426 per share (ex-dividend May 12, payable June 1), equal to an annualized $1.37 and a ~3.5% yield with a payout ratio around 62%.

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its stake in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) by 19.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,539,977 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 741,587 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned approximately 1.60% of Essential Utilities worth $174,163,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Pekao Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych S.A. bought a new position in Essential Utilities during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,547,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 351.4% in the 3rd quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 234,179 shares of the company's stock worth $9,057,000 after purchasing an additional 182,301 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 39.8% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 99,453 shares of the company's stock worth $3,968,000 after purchasing an additional 28,329 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 25.5% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,972,565 shares of the company's stock worth $354,057,000 after purchasing an additional 1,822,306 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 16.4% in the 3rd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 966,685 shares of the company's stock worth $38,571,000 after purchasing an additional 135,899 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WTRG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Argus upgraded shares of Essential Utilities to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $43.20.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WTRG opened at $39.46 on Tuesday. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $40.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.40. Essential Utilities Inc. has a twelve month low of $36.32 and a twelve month high of $42.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.18 billion, a PE ratio of 17.86 and a beta of 0.78.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.11. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 24.91% and a return on equity of 9.18%. The firm had revenue of $699.11 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $611.60 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.67 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.25 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

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