Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Acquires Shares of 19,583 Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new stake in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 19,583 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $750,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the second quarter worth approximately $5,949,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Essential Utilities in the 2nd quarter valued at $308,000. Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new position in Essential Utilities in the 2nd quarter valued at $5,300,000. Heartland Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Essential Utilities during the 2nd quarter worth $1,743,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the 2nd quarter worth $6,615,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Colleen Arnold sold 2,855 shares of Essential Utilities stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.55, for a total transaction of $112,915.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 17,347 shares in the company, valued at approximately $686,073.85. This trade represents a 14.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WTRG opened at $40.78 on Thursday. 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 one year low of $36.10 and a one year high of $42.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.81 and a beta of 0.64. The company’s fifty day moving average is $39.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.04.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $530.85 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $538.90 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be issued a $0.3606 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis 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 is 73.47%.

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.