Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG Stock: Boston Trust Walden Corp Trims Position

Key Points

• Boston Trust Walden cut its Essential Utilities stake by 6.6% in the third quarter, selling 161,862 shares; it retained about 2.30 million shares, worth roughly $90.2 million.
• Essential Utilities beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, reporting EPS of $0.38 and revenue of $508.3 million; revenue rose 6.6% year over year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.3606 per share, equivalent to a 3.2% annualized yield. Analysts’ consensus rating was “Moderate Buy,” with a $43 average target price.

Boston Trust Walden Corp cut its position in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) by 6.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,301,599 shares of the company's stock after selling 161,862 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp owned about 0.81% of Essential Utilities worth $90,200,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the 2nd quarter worth $1,280,829,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the second quarter valued at $134,247,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 1,224.0% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,233,682 shares of the company's stock valued at $126,728,000 after buying an additional 2,989,455 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the second quarter valued at about $92,467,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 1,499.9% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,282,008 shares of the company's stock valued at $51,626,000 after acquiring an additional 1,201,879 shares in the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Essential Utilities Stock Up 2.5%

Essential Utilities stock opened at $45.13 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The firm has a market cap of $12.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.62. The business has a fifty day moving average of $40.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.50. Essential Utilities Inc. has a twelve month low of $36.10 and a twelve month high of $45.17.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $508.26 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $450.44 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 8.42% and a net margin of 21.79%. The business's revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.33 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 10th will be paid a $0.3606 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 10th. Essential Utilities's payout ratio is 73.47%.

Insider Transactions at Essential Utilities

In other Essential Utilities news, insider Colleen Arnold sold 2,855 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.55, for a total value of $112,915.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 17,347 shares in the company, valued at approximately $686,073.85. The trade was a 14.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.36% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on WTRG shares. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $43.00.

Essential Utilities Profile

Essential Utilities, Inc is a regulated utility company that provides water, wastewater and natural gas services to residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers. Through its Aqua and Peoples operations, the company owns and operates water and wastewater systems, natural gas distribution networks and related infrastructure. Its services include the treatment and delivery of drinking water, collection and treatment of wastewater, and the distribution of natural gas.

The company serves customers across several U.S.

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