79,254 Shares in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG Purchased by Odyssean LLC

Odyssean LLC bought a new stake in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 79,254 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,036,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WTRG. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,280,829,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Essential Utilities by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,833,175 shares of the company’s stock worth $530,641,000 after purchasing an additional 241,176 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 33.4% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 6,335,695 shares of the company’s stock worth $243,023,000 after buying an additional 1,586,622 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,233,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $200,197,000 after buying an additional 120,947 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 19.0% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,149,063 shares of the company’s stock valued at $159,158,000 after buying an additional 662,334 shares in the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on WTRG shares. UBS Group raised their target price on Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Essential Utilities to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 4th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Essential Utilities from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Colleen Arnold sold 2,855 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.55, for a total transaction of $112,915.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 17,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $686,073.85. This represents a 14.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:WTRG opened at $41.73 on Friday. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 52 week low of $36.10 and a 52 week high of $42.37. The company’s 50 day moving average is $39.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.20. 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 company has a market cap of $11.84 billion, a PE ratio of 21.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.64.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.38 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th were issued 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 was Tuesday, August 11th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.