Nuance Investments LLC Buys Shares of 238,896 Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Key Points

• Nuance Investments LLC acquired 238,896 shares of Essential Utilities, valued at approximately $9.15 million, making up 1.6% of its portfolio. Institutional investors collectively own 74.78% of the company.
• Essential Utilities exceeded quarterly earnings expectations with EPS of $0.38 versus the $0.37 consensus, while revenue rose 3.1% year over year to $530.85 million.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.3606 per share, representing an annualized dividend of $1.44 and a 3.6% yield. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $43.00.

Nuance Investments 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 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 238,896 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,152,000. Essential Utilities accounts for approximately 1.6% of Nuance Investments LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Nuance Investments LLC owned about 0.08% of Essential Utilities as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ increased its stake in Essential Utilities by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ now owns 83,188 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,191,000 after buying an additional 262 shares during the period. Essential Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 29.9% during the 1st quarter. Essential Partners LLC now owns 1,234 shares of the company's stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 284 shares during the period. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 8,604 shares of the company's stock valued at $322,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. Sigma Planning Corp increased its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 5.3% in the first quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 6,251 shares of the company's stock worth $252,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rakuten Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,881 shares of the company's stock worth $460,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essential Utilities Trading Down 1.2%

Essential Utilities stock opened at $39.89 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The company has a market capitalization of $11.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.35 and a beta of 0.64. Essential Utilities Inc. has a one year low of $36.10 and a one year high of $42.37. The company's fifty day moving average price is $38.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.91.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $530.85 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $538.90 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 8.23% and a net margin of 21.60%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.38 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.3606 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. This is a boost from Essential Utilities's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 11th. Essential Utilities's dividend payout ratio is 73.47%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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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