UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Acquires 49,216 Shares of Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 4.5% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,133,353 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 49,216 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $43,419,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ grew its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ now owns 83,188 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,191,000 after buying an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Essential Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 29.9% during the 1st quarter. Essential Partners LLC now owns 1,234 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC raised its position 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 valued at $322,000 after buying an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. Sigma Planning Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 6,251 shares of the company’s stock valued at $252,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rakuten Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Essential Utilities by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,881 shares of the company’s stock worth $460,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related 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 transaction, the insider owned 17,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on WTRG shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Barclays raised 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Essential Utilities to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 4th. Two equities research 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Essential Utilities has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.00.

Essential Utilities Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE WTRG opened at $41.86 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $39.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The stock has a market cap of $11.88 billion, a PE ratio of 21.36, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.64. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 12 month low of $36.10 and a 12 month high of $42.37.

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

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th were paid a dividend of $0.3606 per share. This is a boost from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 11th. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is presently 73.47%.

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.