Flputnam Investment Management Co. Makes New Investment in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Flputnam Investment Management Co. acquired a new position in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 465,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,841,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WTRG. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac acquired a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Essential Utilities in the first quarter worth $27,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Essential Utilities during the first quarter worth $40,000. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Essential Utilities to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, July 4th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Barclays upped their target price 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. Two investment 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 issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.00.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

Essential Utilities stock opened at $40.38 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The company has a market capitalization of $11.46 billion, a PE ratio of 20.60 and a beta of 0.64. Essential Utilities Inc. has a one year low of $36.10 and a one year high of $42.37. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $38.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.91.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. 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 business had revenue of $530.85 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.90 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.38 EPS. Essential Utilities’s quarterly revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.3606 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 11th. This is a boost from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.47%.

Insider Activity at Essential Utilities

In other news, insider Colleen Arnold sold 2,855 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.55, for a total value of $112,915.25. Following the sale, the insider owned 17,347 shares in the company, valued at approximately $686,073.85. The trade was a 14.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

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.