170,133 Shares in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG Acquired by Deutsche Bank AG

Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 170,133 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,518,000. Deutsche Bank AG owned approximately 0.06% of Essential Utilities as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter worth $638,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 12,861 shares of the company's stock worth $508,000 after purchasing an additional 928 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 29,674 shares of the company's stock worth $1,173,000 after purchasing an additional 530 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Essential Utilities by 122.7% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 943,797 shares of the company's stock worth $37,308,000 after buying an additional 519,933 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth grew its stake in Essential Utilities by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 22,322 shares of the company's stock worth $882,000 after buying an additional 1,044 shares during the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Essential Utilities Stock Up 3.0%

Shares of WTRG opened at $41.38 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.11 and a beta of 0.64. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 52 week low of $36.10 and a 52 week high of $42.37. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $39.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.00. 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 (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $538.90 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.38 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.21 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.3606 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 11th. This is an increase from Essential Utilities's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Essential Utilities's payout ratio is currently 73.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essential Utilities

In other Essential Utilities news, insider Colleen Arnold sold 2,855 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 7th. The stock was 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 approximately $686,073.85. This trade represents a 14.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WTRG. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. 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 research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Essential Utilities to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Essential Utilities has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $43.00.

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.

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