Allworth Financial LP Purchases New Stake in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Key Points

• Allworth Financial LP acquired 172,667 shares of Essential Utilities in the second quarter, worth approximately $6.6 million and representing about 0.06% of the company. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 74.78% of WTRG.
• Analyst sentiment remains moderately positive, with an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.00. Recent targets range from $40 at Barclays, which rates the stock underweight, to $46 at UBS, which rates it a buy.
• Essential Utilities raised its quarterly dividend to $0.3606 per share, equivalent to a 3.6% annualized yield. Its latest earnings slightly beat expectations at $0.38 per share, while quarterly revenue rose 3.1% year over year to $530.85 million.

Allworth Financial LP bought a new stake in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 172,667 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,615,000. Allworth Financial LP owned approximately 0.06% of Essential Utilities as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in Essential Utilities in the 4th quarter valued at about $638,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 7.8% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 12,861 shares of the company's stock valued at $508,000 after acquiring an additional 928 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $1,173,000 after acquiring an additional 530 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 122.7% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 943,797 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,308,000 after acquiring an additional 519,933 shares during the period. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth lifted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 22,322 shares of the company's stock worth $882,000 after acquiring an additional 1,044 shares during the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Colleen Arnold sold 2,855 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider owned 17,347 shares of the company's stock, valued at $686,073.85. The trade was a 14.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.36% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WTRG. Wall Street Zen raised Essential Utilities to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 4th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on Essential Utilities from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Essential Utilities currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $43.00.

Essential Utilities Trading Down 1.4%

WTRG opened at $40.47 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $11.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.65 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 business's 50 day moving average is $39.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.96. 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 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 company had revenue of $530.85 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.90 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 21.60% and a return on equity of 8.23%. Essential Utilities's quarterly revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.38 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.21 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.3606 per share. 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 yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 11th. Essential Utilities's payout ratio 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.

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