Magellan Asset Management Ltd Invests $12.29 Million in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Magellan Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 320,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,289,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ lifted its position in Essential Utilities by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ now owns 83,188 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,191,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the period. Essential Partners LLC increased its position in Essential Utilities by 29.9% during the 1st quarter. Essential Partners LLC now owns 1,234 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares during the period. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 8,604 shares of the company’s stock worth $322,000 after buying an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. Sigma Planning Corp raised its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 6,251 shares of the company’s stock worth $252,000 after buying an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rakuten Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,881 shares of the company’s stock valued at $460,000 after buying an additional 332 shares during the period. 74.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of WTRG stock opened at $40.18 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $39.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.97. The stock has a market cap of $11.40 billion, a PE ratio of 20.50 and a beta of 0.64. 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 quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.78.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $530.85 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.90 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.38 earnings per share. Essential Utilities’s revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.21 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be paid a $0.3606 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 11th. This is a positive change from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.47%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essential Utilities news, insider Colleen Arnold sold 2,855 shares of the firm’s 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 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group upped their price objective on Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Essential Utilities to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, July 4th. Two 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 given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.