Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Invests $750,000 in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

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

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Essential Utilities during the second quarter worth about $1,280,829,000. State Street Corp grew its position 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 grew its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 33.4% in 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 2.4% during 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, Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 19.0% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,149,063 shares of the company’s stock worth $159,158,000 after purchasing an additional 662,334 shares in the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Essential Utilities

In related news, insider Colleen Arnold sold 2,855 shares of the company’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 transaction of $112,915.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 17,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $686,073.85. This represents a 14.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on WTRG shares. Wall Street Zen raised Essential Utilities to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 4th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Barclays boosted their price target on Essential Utilities from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research 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 issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essential Utilities currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.00.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

NYSE WTRG opened at $40.78 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $39.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. Essential Utilities Inc. has a twelve month low of $36.10 and a twelve month high of $42.37. The company has a market capitalization of $11.57 billion, a PE ratio of 20.81 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 EPS 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $538.90 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.38 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be issued a $0.3606 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 11th. This is a positive change from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is presently 73.47%.

Essential Utilities 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.