Amundi Lowers Stock Position in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Key Points

• Amundi cut its Essential Utilities stake by 4.5% in the second quarter, selling 206,168 shares and retaining 4.33 million shares valued at approximately $166 million. Institutional investors collectively own 74.78% of the company.
• Essential Utilities posted quarterly EPS of $0.38, slightly above estimates, while revenue rose 3.1% year over year to $530.85 million but came in below expectations.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.3606 per share, representing a $1.44 annualized payout and a 3.4% yield. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $43.

Amundi reduced its position in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,333,385 shares of the company's stock after selling 206,168 shares during the quarter. Amundi owned about 1.53% of Essential Utilities worth $166,047,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Essential Utilities during the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the second quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.78% of the company's stock.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

WTRG opened at $41.92 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.39, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a 50-day moving average of $39.98 and a 200-day moving average of $39.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.78. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 1-year low of $36.10 and a 1-year high of $42.37.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.38 earnings per share. Essential Utilities's revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect 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 was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 11th were paid a dividend of $0.3606 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. This is a boost from Essential Utilities's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 11th. Essential Utilities's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Essential Utilities news, insider Colleen Arnold sold 2,855 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.55, for a total transaction of $112,915.25. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WTRG. UBS Group upped 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. Barclays boosted their price objective on Essential Utilities from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen raised Essential Utilities to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Essential Utilities from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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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