D.A. Davidson & CO. Acquires 16,736 Shares of Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 116.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,064 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 16,736 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $1,190,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WTRG. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,833,175 shares of the company’s stock worth $530,641,000 after acquiring an additional 241,176 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its position in Essential Utilities by 33.4% during the fourth 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. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 120,947 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 19.5% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,539,977 shares of the company’s stock valued at $174,163,000 after purchasing an additional 741,587 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 19.0% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,149,063 shares of the company’s stock worth $159,158,000 after buying an additional 662,334 shares during the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen raised Essential Utilities to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 4th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.00.

Essential Utilities Stock Up 1.5%

NYSE WTRG opened at $40.44 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $11.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.63 and a beta of 0.64. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 1-year low of $36.10 and a 1-year high of $42.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The company has a 50 day moving average of $38.71 and a 200-day moving average of $38.90.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $530.85 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $538.90 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 8.23% and a net margin of 21.60%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.38 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.3606 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 11th. This is a positive change from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.47%.

Insider Transactions at Essential Utilities

In other Essential Utilities news, insider Colleen Arnold sold 2,855 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.55, for a total value of $112,915.25. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 17,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $686,073.85. This trade represents a 14.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.36% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Essential Utilities 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.