Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG Shares Sold by Hsbc Holdings PLC

Hsbc Holdings PLC trimmed its position in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 81.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,090 shares of the company’s stock after selling 75,738 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $691,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Essential Utilities during the 4th quarter worth approximately $154,176,000. Amundi raised its holdings in Essential Utilities by 33.4% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 6,335,695 shares of the company’s stock valued at $243,023,000 after buying an additional 1,586,622 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Essential Utilities by 611.4% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,744,679 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,258,000 after buying an additional 1,499,450 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its position in Essential Utilities by 1,651.9% during the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 1,551,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,517,000 after buying an additional 1,462,971 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in Essential Utilities by 3,650.7% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,255,212 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,150,000 after buying an additional 1,221,746 shares during the period. 74.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WTRG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Essential Utilities to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, July 4th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Two equities research 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 given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.80.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

Essential Utilities stock opened at $40.42 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.46 billion, a PE ratio of 20.52 and a beta of 0.65. Essential Utilities Inc. has a one year low of $36.10 and a one year high of $42.37. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $38.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.95.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $861.76 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $782.90 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 21.82% and a return on equity of 8.34%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.3606 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 11th. This is a positive change from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.54%.

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.