Equitable Holdings Inc. Invests $528,000 in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Equitable Holdings Inc. bought a new position in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 13,779 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $528,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Essential Utilities in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,280,829,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Essential Utilities in the 4th quarter worth $154,176,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Essential Utilities in the 2nd quarter worth $134,247,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the 2nd quarter worth about $92,467,000. Finally, Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 33.4% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 6,335,695 shares of the company’s stock worth $243,023,000 after purchasing an additional 1,586,622 shares during the period. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essential Utilities Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of WTRG stock opened at $41.06 on Monday. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 52-week low of $36.10 and a 52-week high of $42.37. The stock has a market cap of $11.65 billion, a price-to-earnings 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. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $39.46 and a 200-day moving average of $39.09.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.01. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 21.60% and a return on equity of 8.23%. The company had revenue of $530.85 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $538.90 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.38 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be given a $0.3606 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. This is a boost from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 11th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 73.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Essential Utilities news, insider Colleen Arnold sold 2,855 shares of Essential Utilities 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 sale, the insider directly owned 17,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $686,073.85. The trade was a 14.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.