Ieq Capital LLC Buys Shares of 138,340 Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Key Points

• Ieq Capital acquired 138,340 shares of Essential Utilities worth approximately $5.3 million during the second quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.78% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but leans positive, with Essential Utilities carrying a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $43.00 price target. Recent targets range from $40 at Barclays, which maintains an underweight rating, to $46 at UBS, which rates the stock a buy.
• The company reported quarterly EPS of $0.38, slightly ahead of estimates, while revenue rose 3.1% year over year to $530.85 million. Essential Utilities also increased its quarterly dividend to $0.3606, implying an annualized yield of about 3.6%.

Ieq Capital LLC bought a new stake in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 138,340 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,300,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Heartland Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Essential Utilities in the second quarter worth approximately $1,743,000. Allworth Financial LP bought a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the 2nd quarter valued at $6,615,000. NFJ Investment Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the 2nd quarter valued at $4,046,000. LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the 2nd quarter valued at $243,000. Finally, Advisors Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the 2nd quarter valued at $265,000. 74.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essential Utilities

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 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.36% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on WTRG shares. Barclays raised their target price on Essential Utilities from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen raised Essential Utilities to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, July 4th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Two research 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 given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Essential Utilities presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $43.00.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

Shares of Essential Utilities stock opened at $40.18 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.62. Essential Utilities Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $36.10 and a fifty-two week high of $42.37. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $39.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.97. The company has a market cap of $11.40 billion, a PE ratio of 20.50 and a beta of 0.64.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last announced 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. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 21.60% and a return on equity of 8.23%. The business had revenue of $530.85 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.90 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.38 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.21 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be given a $0.3606 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 11th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. This is an increase from Essential Utilities's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Essential Utilities's dividend payout ratio is 73.47%.

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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