45,489 Shares in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG Bought by Heartland Advisors Inc.

Heartland Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 45,489 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,743,000.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Essential Utilities Trading Down 0.6%

NYSE WTRG opened at $40.18 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.50 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.97. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 12 month low of $36.10 and a 12 month high of $42.37. 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 (NYSE:WTRG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.01. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 21.60% and a return on equity of 8.23%. The firm had revenue of $530.85 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $538.90 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.38 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.21 EPS 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.3606 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. This is a boost from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 11th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is presently 73.47%.

Insider Transactions at Essential Utilities

In other Essential Utilities news, insider Colleen Arnold sold 2,855 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider directly owned 17,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $686,073.85. This represents a 14.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

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.