Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) Short Interest Up 26.5% in January

Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 6,377,574 shares, an increase of 26.5% from the December 31st total of 5,042,728 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,704,428 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.7 days. Approximately 2.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Approximately 2.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,704,428 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.7 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WTRG. GoalVest Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. SouthState Corp boosted its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. American National Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp grew its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 1,163.8% in the 3rd quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 733 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 675 shares during the period. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 31,466.7% in the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 947 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 944 shares in the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays set a $38.00 price target on shares of Essential Utilities and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $47.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Robert W. Baird downgraded Essential Utilities from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Zacks Research upgraded Essential Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Northcoast Research upgraded Essential Utilities from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essential Utilities has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.29.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

Shares of Essential Utilities stock traded down $0.40 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $37.85. The company had a trading volume of 2,373,031 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,813,686. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.90. Essential Utilities has a 1-year low of $34.58 and a 1-year high of $42.37. The company has a market capitalization of $10.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.71 and a beta of 0.81.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $476.97 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $472.40 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 28.09%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.25 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Essential Utilities will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th will be given a $0.3426 dividend. This represents a $1.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 9th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.85%.

Essential Utilities Company Profile

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.