289,905 Shares in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG Acquired by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 289,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,106,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.10% of Essential Utilities at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the first quarter valued at $27,000. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac bought a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on WTRG. Wall Street Zen raised Essential Utilities to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, July 4th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective 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 issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Essential Utilities has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Colleen Arnold sold 2,855 shares of Essential Utilities stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider owned 17,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $686,073.85. This trade represents a 14.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

NYSE WTRG opened at $41.06 on Friday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $11.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.95 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.08. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 52-week low of $36.10 and a 52-week high of $42.37.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $530.85 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 in the previous year, the firm posted $0.38 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be paid a $0.3606 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. 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. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 73.47%.

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.