Raiffeisen Bank International AG Decreases Stock Position in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Key Points

• Raiffeisen Bank International AG significantly reduced its holdings in Essential Utilities Inc. by 94.6%, selling 534,004 shares and retaining only 30,208 shares, valued at approximately $1.19 million.
• The company recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.3426 per share, resulting in a 3.6% dividend yield.
• Essential Utilities reported a strong earnings performance, with a $0.38 EPS for the quarter, surpassing estimates and reflecting a year-over-year revenue increase of 18.5%.

Raiffeisen Bank International AG lowered its stake in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) by 94.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,208 shares of the company's stock after selling 534,004 shares during the quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG's holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $1,187,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,317,312 shares of the company's stock valued at $156,526,000 after purchasing an additional 11,336 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,690,116 shares of the company's stock valued at $134,025,000 after purchasing an additional 236,250 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 22.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,331,090 shares of the company's stock valued at $120,985,000 after purchasing an additional 601,026 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 16.5% during the first quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 2,476,811 shares of the company's stock valued at $97,908,000 after purchasing an additional 349,904 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,346,671 shares of the company's stock valued at $85,231,000 after purchasing an additional 192,456 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.78% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Essential Utilities from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Essential Utilities from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $43.67.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WTRG traded up $0.38 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $38.81. 2,461,354 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,859,846. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.57. Essential Utilities Inc. has a twelve month low of $33.18 and a twelve month high of $41.65. The company has a market cap of $10.88 billion, a PE ratio of 16.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.02.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.09. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 27.62%. The company had revenue of $514.91 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $462.70 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.28 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be paid a $0.3426 dividend. This represents a $1.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. This is a boost from Essential Utilities's previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 12th. Essential Utilities's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.79%.

About Essential Utilities

Essential Utilities, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates regulated utilities that provide water, wastewater, or natural gas services in the United States. The company operates through Regulated Water and Regulated Natural Gas segments. It offers water services through operating and maintenance contract with municipal authorities and other parties.