UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Purchases 49,216 Shares of Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Key Points

• UBS Asset Management increased its Essential Utilities stake by 4.5% in the second quarter, purchasing 49,216 shares and bringing its holdings to 1.13 million shares valued at approximately $43.4 million.
• Institutional investors own 74.78% of Essential Utilities, while analysts maintain a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with a $43.00 price target.
• Essential Utilities narrowly exceeded quarterly EPS expectations, reported 3.1% year-over-year revenue growth, and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.3606, representing a 3.4% annualized yield.

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,133,353 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 49,216 shares during the quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned approximately 0.40% of Essential Utilities worth $43,419,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Essential Utilities during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac purchased a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Motiv8 Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on WTRG shares. UBS Group upped their price target on Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on Essential Utilities from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Essential Utilities to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, July 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essential Utilities presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $43.00.

Essential Utilities Trading Up 0.7%

WTRG stock opened at $41.86 on Friday. 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 1-year low of $36.10 and a 1-year high of $42.37. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.18. The company has a market capitalization of $11.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.36, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.64.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.01. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 21.60% and a return on equity of 8.23%. The firm had revenue of $530.85 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $538.90 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.38 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th were issued a $0.3606 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 11th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. This is an increase from Essential Utilities's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Essential Utilities's payout ratio is presently 73.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Essential Utilities news, insider Colleen Arnold sold 2,855 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.55, for a total transaction of $112,915.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 17,347 shares of the company's stock, valued at $686,073.85. This represents a 14.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by 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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