Jupiter Topco LLC Buys Shares of 118,200 Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 118,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,530,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WTRG. 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 during the last quarter. Essential Partners LLC raised its stake in Essential Utilities by 29.9% during the first quarter. Essential Partners LLC now owns 1,234 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 284 shares during the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 8,604 shares of the company’s stock worth $322,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. Sigma Planning Corp grew its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 5.3% in the first quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 6,251 shares of the company’s stock worth $252,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rakuten Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of WTRG opened at $41.25 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $39.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 12 month low of $36.10 and a 12 month high of $42.37. The company has a market cap of $11.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.05 and a beta of 0.64.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 8.23% and a net margin of 21.60%.The firm had revenue of $530.85 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $538.90 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.38 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be issued a $0.3606 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is 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 73.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WTRG. Wall Street Zen raised Essential Utilities to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 4th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essential Utilities news, insider Colleen Arnold sold 2,855 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider owned 17,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $686,073.85. The trade was a 14.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities Company 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.