80,780 Shares in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG Acquired by Polar Asset Management Partners Inc.

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new stake in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 80,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,095,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WTRG. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Essential Utilities during the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac acquired a new position in Essential Utilities in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Essential Utilities in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group boosted their price target on Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a research report 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 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 given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essential Utilities currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Colleen Arnold sold 2,855 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.55, for a total transaction of $112,915.25. Following the completion of the sale, 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 is available at the SEC website. 0.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

WTRG stock opened at $40.74 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $11.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.79 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 12-month low of $36.10 and a 12-month high of $42.37. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $39.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.02.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.01. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 21.60% and a return on equity of 8.23%. The business had revenue of $530.85 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $538.90 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.38 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be given a dividend of $0.3606 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date 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 is currently 73.47%.

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.