Norges Bank Invests $102.35 Million in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,755,714 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $102,347,000. Norges Bank owned about 0.98% of Essential Utilities as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WTRG. SouthState Corp boosted its position in Essential Utilities by 834.7% during the second quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 701 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 626 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the second quarter worth $31,000. National Pension Service boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 75.0% during the 1st quarter. National Pension Service now owns 950 shares of the company's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 407 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group grew its stake in Essential Utilities by 101.8% in the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,360 shares of the company's stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 686 shares during the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on WTRG. Northcoast Research raised shares of Essential Utilities from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $42.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen raised Essential Utilities from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, October 11th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Monday. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $45.00 price target (down from $46.00) on shares of Essential Utilities in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Essential Utilities from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $44.00.

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View Our Latest Stock Report on Essential Utilities

Essential Utilities Stock Up 0.0%

WTRG stock opened at $38.87 on Thursday. Essential Utilities Inc. has a twelve month low of $33.18 and a twelve month high of $42.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The company has a market cap of $11.00 billion, a PE ratio of 16.13 and a beta of 0.81. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $39.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.64.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.06. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 28.09%.The company had revenue of $476.97 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $472.40 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.25 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 12th were given a $0.3426 dividend. This represents a $1.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 12th. Essential Utilities's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.85%.

Essential Utilities Company 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.

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