PensionDanmark Pensionsforsikringsaktieselskab Grows Stake in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Key Points

• PensionDanmark more than doubled its Essential Utilities stake in the second quarter, increasing holdings by 114.4% to 137,908 shares valued at approximately $5.28 million. Institutional investors collectively own 74.78% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive overall, with Essential Utilities holding a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $43.00 average price target. Price targets ranged from $40 at Barclays, which maintained an underweight rating, to $46 at UBS, which rated the stock a buy.
• Essential Utilities slightly beat quarterly EPS estimates, reporting $0.38 versus the $0.37 consensus, while revenue rose 3.1% year over year to $530.85 million. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.3606, representing a 3.6% annualized yield.

PensionDanmark Pensionsforsikringsaktieselskab increased its position in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) by 114.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 137,908 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 73,600 shares during the period. PensionDanmark Pensionsforsikringsaktieselskab's holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $5,283,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Apella Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 8.5% in the second quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 9,106 shares of the company's stock valued at $356,000 after acquiring an additional 711 shares during the period. CoreCap Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 197.3% during the 2nd quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 4,269 shares of the company's stock valued at $164,000 after purchasing an additional 2,833 shares during the period. Trilogy Capital Inc. increased its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. now owns 82,885 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,175,000 after purchasing an additional 1,833 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 77.9% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,756 shares of the company's stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 769 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CX Institutional lifted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 9.2% in the 2nd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 9,573 shares of the company's stock worth $367,000 after purchasing an additional 809 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.78% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on WTRG shares. Barclays raised their price objective 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. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Essential Utilities to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 4th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Two 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essential Utilities presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $43.00.

Essential Utilities Stock Up 0.0%

WTRG stock opened at $40.06 on Monday. Essential Utilities Inc. has a twelve month low of $36.10 and a twelve month high of $42.37. 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 stock has a market cap of $11.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.44 and a beta of 0.64. The business's 50-day moving average price is $38.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.88.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $530.85 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.90 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 21.60% and a return on equity of 8.23%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.21 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 is an increase from Essential Utilities's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Essential Utilities's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 69.90%.

Essential Utilities 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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