Great Lakes Advisors LLC Invests $2.99 Million in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Great Lakes Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 78,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,990,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Essential Utilities during the 2nd quarter worth $1,280,829,000. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,833,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $530,641,000 after purchasing an additional 241,176 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 33.4% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 6,335,695 shares of the company’s stock valued at $243,023,000 after purchasing an additional 1,586,622 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Essential Utilities by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,233,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $200,197,000 after purchasing an additional 120,947 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its stake in Essential Utilities by 19.5% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,539,977 shares of the company’s stock valued at $174,163,000 after buying an additional 741,587 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Colleen Arnold sold 2,855 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of WTRG opened at $40.47 on Friday. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 1 year low of $36.10 and a 1 year high of $42.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $39.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.96. The firm has a market cap of $11.48 billion, a PE ratio of 20.65 and a beta of 0.64.

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

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be given a $0.3606 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. This is an increase from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 11th. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is presently 73.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays increased their price target on Essential Utilities from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Essential Utilities to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 4th. Finally, UBS Group boosted 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. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Essential Utilities currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.00.

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.