Natixis Has $4.90 Million Holdings in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Natixis decreased its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) by 24.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 134,839 shares of the company's stock after selling 42,514 shares during the quarter. Natixis' holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $4,897,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in Essential Utilities by 75.0% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,104 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 473 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 98.9% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,565 shares of the company's stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 778 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Essential Utilities in the 4th quarter valued at about $60,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.78% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $41.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com raised shares of Essential Utilities from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, April 20th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Essential Utilities from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Essential Utilities currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $43.50.

Essential Utilities Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE:WTRG traded down $0.24 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $40.13. 1,161,304 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,462,130. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $33.18 and a twelve month high of $41.78. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $38.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.97. The firm has a market cap of $11.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.80.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $604.38 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $698.77 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 27.84% and a return on equity of 7.89%. On average, research analysts expect that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be given a $0.3255 dividend. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. Essential Utilities's dividend payout ratio is currently 59.91%.

About Essential Utilities

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.