United Capital Financial Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

United Capital Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 16,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $614,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Essential Utilities in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac bought a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 74.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essential Utilities

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

Essential Utilities Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE WTRG opened at $41.25 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $11.71 billion, a PE ratio of 21.05 and a beta of 0.64. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $39.55 and a 200-day moving average of $39.12.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $530.85 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.38 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be given a $0.3606 dividend. This is a boost 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is 73.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.