22,341 Shares in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG Bought by Robeco Schweiz AG

Robeco Schweiz AG bought a new stake in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 22,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $876,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WTRG. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Essential Utilities during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,280,829,000. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,119,170 shares of the company’s stock worth $502,595,000 after purchasing an additional 687,688 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the 2nd quarter worth $134,247,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 1,224.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,233,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $126,728,000 after purchasing an additional 2,989,455 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 3.8% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,881,490 shares of the company’s stock worth $116,049,000 after purchasing an additional 106,252 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of Essential Utilities stock opened at $43.15 on Monday. 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 Inc. has a 52 week low of $36.10 and a 52 week high of $43.61. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $40.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.01, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.63.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.01. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 21.60% and a return on equity of 8.23%. The business had revenue of $530.85 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $538.90 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.38 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 10th will be given a $0.3606 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 10th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Colleen Arnold sold 2,855 shares of Essential Utilities stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider directly owned 17,347 shares in the company, valued at $686,073.85. This trade represents a 14.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WTRG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their target price on Essential Utilities from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Essential Utilities to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 4th. Weiss Ratings raised Essential Utilities from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Essential Utilities from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.25.

Essential Utilities Profile

Essential Utilities, Inc is a regulated utility company that provides water, wastewater and natural gas services to residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers. Through its Aqua and Peoples operations, the company owns and operates water and wastewater systems, natural gas distribution networks and related infrastructure. Its services include the treatment and delivery of drinking water, collection and treatment of wastewater, and the distribution of natural gas.

The company serves customers across several U.S.