Flputnam Investment Management Co. Purchases 54,865 Shares of Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Flputnam Investment Management Co. lifted its position in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 13.4% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 465,697 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 54,865 shares during the period. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $17,841,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac purchased a new stake in Essential Utilities in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Essential Utilities during the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Essential Utilities

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 value of $112,915.25. Following the sale, the insider owned 17,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $686,073.85. The trade was a 14.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Essential Utilities Stock Up 1.3%

WTRG opened at $41.06 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.08. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 52 week low of $36.10 and a 52 week high of $42.37. The company has a market capitalization of $11.65 billion, a PE ratio of 20.95 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20.

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

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 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. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.