Great Lakes Advisors LLC Takes Position in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Great Lakes Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 78,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,990,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WTRG. Versor Investments LP acquired a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,430,000. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the 4th quarter valued at about $638,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its stake in Essential Utilities by 19.5% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,539,977 shares of the company’s stock worth $174,163,000 after purchasing an additional 741,587 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,566,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Essential Utilities by 9.9% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,473,632 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,343,000 after purchasing an additional 132,566 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:WTRG opened at $40.47 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.96. The firm has a market cap of $11.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.65 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $36.10 and a 52-week high of $42.37.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.38 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $530.85 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $538.90 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.38 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be issued 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essential Utilities

In other Essential Utilities news, insider Colleen Arnold sold 2,855 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $686,073.85. This trade represents a 14.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on WTRG shares. Wall Street Zen raised Essential Utilities to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 4th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.00.

About Essential Utilities

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.