Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG Shares Sold by Wellington Management Group LLP

Wellington Management Group LLP lessened its stake in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 83.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 83,988 shares of the company’s stock after selling 427,597 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $3,218,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of WTRG. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Essential Utilities during the 2nd quarter worth $1,280,829,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter worth about $154,176,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the second quarter worth about $134,247,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the second quarter worth about $92,467,000. Finally, Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 33.4% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 6,335,695 shares of the company’s stock valued at $243,023,000 after purchasing an additional 1,586,622 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on WTRG shares. UBS Group upped their target price on Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on Essential Utilities from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen raised Essential Utilities to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, July 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.00.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of WTRG stock opened at $42.02 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.92 billion, a PE ratio of 21.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.64. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 52-week low of $36.10 and a 52-week high of $42.41. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $40.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.25. 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 (NYSE:WTRG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.01. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 8.23% and a net margin of 21.60%.The company had revenue of $530.85 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $538.90 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.38 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.21 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th were paid a dividend of $0.3606 per share. This is a positive change from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 11th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 73.47%.

Insider Activity

In other 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 value of $112,915.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 17,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $686,073.85. This trade represents a 14.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities Company 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.