Bank of America Corp DE Increases Stock Position in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Key Points

• Bank of America increased its Essential Utilities stake by 9.9% in the first quarter, acquiring 132,566 additional shares to hold 1.47 million shares worth approximately $59.3 million. Institutional investors collectively own 74.78% of WTRG.
• Analyst sentiment remains generally positive, with Essential Utilities receiving a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $43, compared with a recent price of $39.85.
• The company exceeded quarterly earnings expectations with EPS of $0.38 versus $0.37 forecast, while revenue rose 3.1% year over year. Essential Utilities also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.3606 per share, representing a 3.6% annualized yield.

Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) by 9.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,473,632 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 132,566 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned about 0.52% of Essential Utilities worth $59,343,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WTRG. Pekao Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych S.A. purchased a new stake in Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,547,000. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter worth $638,000. Versor Investments LP purchased a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the 4th quarter valued at $1,430,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 19.5% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,539,977 shares of the company's stock valued at $174,163,000 after acquiring an additional 741,587 shares during the period. Finally, Gateway Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the 4th quarter valued at $3,566,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.78% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WTRG has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays raised their price objective on Essential Utilities from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. UBS Group upped their target price on Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Essential Utilities to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $43.00.

Essential Utilities Trading Down 0.5%

NYSE:WTRG opened at $39.85 on Tuesday. 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 one year low of $36.10 and a one year high of $42.37. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $38.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.89. The stock has a market cap of $11.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.33 and a beta of 0.64.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $538.90 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.38 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.3606 per share. 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. This is a positive change from Essential Utilities's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Essential Utilities's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.90%.

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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