Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Acquires New Holdings in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 13,487 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $517,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the 4th quarter worth approximately $638,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in Essential Utilities by 7.8% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 12,861 shares of the company’s stock valued at $508,000 after acquiring an additional 928 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Essential Utilities by 1.8% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 29,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,173,000 after purchasing an additional 530 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Essential Utilities by 122.7% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 943,797 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,308,000 after purchasing an additional 519,933 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth increased its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 4.9% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 22,322 shares of the company’s stock worth $882,000 after purchasing an additional 1,044 shares in the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Colleen Arnold sold 2,855 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.55, for a total value of $112,915.25. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Essential Utilities Trading Down 1.4%

NYSE:WTRG opened at $40.47 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.65 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.62 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.96.

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

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be issued a $0.3606 dividend. This is a boost 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 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 11th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on WTRG shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Barclays upped their target price on Essential Utilities from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. UBS Group raised 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Essential Utilities to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.00.

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.