UBS Group AG Trims Stock Position in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Key Points

• UBS Group AG trimmed its stake in Essential Utilities by 17.7% in Q4, selling 237,477 shares and ending the quarter with 1,105,002 shares (0.39%) valued at $42.39 million.
• Essential Utilities reported quarterly EPS of $0.83, missing estimates of $0.90, while revenue beat at $861.76 million (up 10% year-over-year vs. estimates of $782.90 million).
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.3426 ($1.37 annualized), a 3.6% yield, payable June 1 to shareholders of record on May 12 (payout ratio 61.99%).

UBS Group AG lessened its stake in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) by 17.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,105,002 shares of the company's stock after selling 237,477 shares during the quarter. UBS Group AG owned 0.39% of Essential Utilities worth $42,388,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Essential Utilities by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 104,188 shares of the company's stock worth $4,157,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. increased its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 13,036 shares of the company's stock valued at $520,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 17,275 shares of the company's stock valued at $689,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 43.6% in the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,114 shares of the company's stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 338 shares during the period. Finally, AGP Franklin LLC boosted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 0.9% during the third quarter. AGP Franklin LLC now owns 38,857 shares of the company's stock worth $1,550,000 after buying an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.78% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Argus upgraded shares of Essential Utilities to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $43.20.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

Shares of Essential Utilities stock opened at $37.57 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.00 and a beta of 0.67. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.33. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 12 month low of $36.32 and a 12 month 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 results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.07). Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 9.18% and a net margin of 24.91%.The firm had revenue of $861.76 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $782.90 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $1.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 12th. Essential Utilities's payout ratio is 61.99%.

About Essential Utilities

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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