Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Purchases New Position in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 506,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,419,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Essential Utilities in the first quarter worth $27,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Essential Utilities during the second quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Motiv8 Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Essential Utilities

In related news, insider Colleen Arnold sold 2,855 shares of Essential Utilities stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WTRG has been the subject of several research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Essential Utilities to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 4th. UBS Group upped 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. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Essential Utilities from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Two equities research 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 given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.00.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

NYSE:WTRG opened at $41.06 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.65 billion, a PE ratio of 20.95 and a beta of 0.64. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $39.46 and its 200 day moving average is $39.08. Essential Utilities Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $36.10 and a fifty-two week high of $42.37. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $538.90 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.38 earnings per share. Essential Utilities’s quarterly revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

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

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.