Man Group plc Takes Position in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Man Group plc acquired a new position in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 80,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,065,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Essential Utilities in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,280,829,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Essential Utilities by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,833,175 shares of the company’s stock worth $530,641,000 after acquiring an additional 241,176 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 33.4% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 6,335,695 shares of the company’s stock valued at $243,023,000 after acquiring an additional 1,586,622 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Essential Utilities by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,233,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $200,197,000 after purchasing an additional 120,947 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 19.0% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,149,063 shares of the company’s stock worth $159,158,000 after purchasing an additional 662,334 shares in the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Essential Utilities news, insider Colleen Arnold sold 2,855 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.55, for a total value of $112,915.25. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 17,347 shares in the company, valued at $686,073.85. This trade represents a 14.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.36% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Essential Utilities Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:WTRG opened at $41.25 on Tuesday. Essential Utilities Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $36.10 and a fifty-two week high of $42.37. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $39.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.12. 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 $11.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.05 and a beta of 0.64.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $530.85 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $538.90 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.38 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.3606 per share. 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 3.5%. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is presently 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.