28,456 Shares in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG Purchased by Vise Technologies Inc.

Vise Technologies Inc. bought a new position in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 28,456 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,090,000.

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

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WTRG opened at $40.18 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $11.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.50 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 1-year low of $36.10 and a 1-year high of $42.37. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $39.08 and its 200 day moving average is $38.97.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.01. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 8.23% and a net margin of 21.60%.The business had revenue of $530.85 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.90 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.38 earnings per share. Essential Utilities’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be paid a $0.3606 dividend. This is a positive change from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 11th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.47%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Colleen Arnold sold 2,855 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.55, for a total transaction of $112,915.25. Following the transaction, the insider owned 17,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $686,073.85. This trade represents a 14.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. 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. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of 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 shares of Essential Utilities to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 4th. Two 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.