Flputnam Investment Management Co. Buys 54,865 Shares of Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Flputnam Investment Management Co. raised its stake in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 13.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 465,697 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 54,865 shares during the period. Flputnam Investment Management Co. owned about 0.16% of Essential Utilities worth $17,841,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the 2nd quarter worth $1,280,829,000. State Street Corp increased its position in Essential Utilities by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,833,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $530,641,000 after acquiring an additional 241,176 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 33.4% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 6,335,695 shares of the company’s stock valued at $243,023,000 after acquiring an additional 1,586,622 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,233,715 shares of the company’s stock valued at $200,197,000 after acquiring an additional 120,947 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in Essential Utilities by 19.0% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,149,063 shares of the company’s stock worth $159,158,000 after purchasing an additional 662,334 shares during the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

Shares of Essential Utilities stock opened at $41.06 on Friday. Essential Utilities Inc. has a one year low of $36.10 and a one year high of $42.37. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $39.46 and its 200 day moving average is $39.08. The stock has a market cap of $11.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.95 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.78.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.01. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 8.23% and a net margin of 21.60%.The company had revenue of $530.85 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $538.90 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.38 earnings per share. Essential Utilities’s quarterly revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be given a dividend of $0.3606 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 11th. This is an increase from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is presently 73.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essential Utilities

In related news, insider Colleen Arnold sold 2,855 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.55, for a total transaction of $112,915.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 17,347 shares in the company, valued at approximately $686,073.85. The trade was a 14.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on WTRG shares. UBS Group boosted their price target on Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Essential Utilities to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, July 4th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Essential Utilities presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.00.

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.