Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Raises Stock Position in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its stake in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 7.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,696 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 670 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $389,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Essential Utilities in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 61.4% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 773 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc grew its stake in Essential Utilities by 75.0% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,104 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 473 shares during the period. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in Essential Utilities in the third quarter worth $42,000. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WTRG. Evercore ISI boosted their target price 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. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Essential Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $41.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Essential Utilities from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.50.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

Shares of WTRG opened at $40.56 on Tuesday. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a twelve month low of $33.18 and a twelve month high of $41.78. The company has a market capitalization of $11.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.79. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $35.94 and a 200 day moving average of $37.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $604.38 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $698.77 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 7.89% and a net margin of 27.84%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.3255 per share. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 13th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.91%.

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.