Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Has $2.93 Million Position in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Posted by on Apr 25th, 2023

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG – Get Rating) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 61,294 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,000 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $2,926,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EWG Elevate Inc. acquired a new stake in Essential Utilities during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Romano Brothers AND Company purchased a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the 1st quarter valued at $38,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 95.0% during the 3rd quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 975 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 47.0% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 376 shares in the last quarter. 69.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $54.00 price target on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Thursday, March 16th. StockNews.com cut shares of Essential Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 28th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $55.00 in a report on Monday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.38.

Essential Utilities Stock Down 0.9 %

WTRG stock opened at $43.28 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.45. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.50 and a 52-week high of $52.42. The company has a 50-day moving average of $43.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $45.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 0.79.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 27th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.01). Essential Utilities had a net margin of 20.33% and a return on equity of 8.73%. The firm had revenue of $705.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $578.00 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 31.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.87 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.287 per share. This represents a $1.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 11th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essential Utilities

In other news, CEO Chris Franklin purchased 37,245 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 8th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $40.70 per share, for a total transaction of $1,515,871.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 37,245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,515,871.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities Company Profile

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Essential Utilities, Inc is a holding company, which engages in providing water, wastewater and natural gas services through its subsidiaries. It operates through the Regulated Water and Regulated Natural Gas segments. The Regulated Water segment includes water and wastewater regulated utility companies.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG)

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