Two Sigma Securities LLC Purchases Shares of 16,350 Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Two Sigma Securities LLC purchased a new position in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 16,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $626,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WTRG. Versor Investments LP purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter valued at $1,430,000. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter worth approximately $638,000. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Essential Utilities during the second quarter worth $3,095,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter worth $3,566,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Essential Utilities by 9.9% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,473,632 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,343,000 after buying an additional 132,566 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities Stock Down 0.2%

Essential Utilities stock opened at $41.07 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $11.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.62. Essential Utilities Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $36.10 and a fifty-two week high of $42.37. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $39.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.14.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $530.85 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $538.90 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 8.23% and a net margin of 21.60%.The firm’s revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.38 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 11th were paid a dividend of $0.3606 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was 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%.

Insider Transactions at Essential Utilities

In other news, insider Colleen Arnold sold 2,855 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The stock was 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.36% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WTRG. Barclays boosted their price target on Essential Utilities from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Essential Utilities to a “sell” rating in a research 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 issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essential Utilities presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.00.

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.