Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC Takes $1.34 Million Position in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 34,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,339,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac purchased a new position in Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Essential Utilities during the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the second quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Essential Utilities

In other Essential Utilities 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 transaction, the insider owned 17,347 shares in the company, valued at $686,073.85. The trade was a 14.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.36% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on WTRG shares. Barclays raised 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. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Essential Utilities to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 4th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, July 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.00.

Essential Utilities Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:WTRG opened at $40.18 on Friday. 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 $42.37. The company has a 50 day moving average of $39.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.97. The company has a market capitalization of $11.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.50 and a beta of 0.64.

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, beating 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 company had revenue of $530.85 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.90 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.38 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.21 earnings per share 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 paid a dividend of $0.3606 per share. This is a positive change from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 11th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. 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.