The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Buys 14,976 Shares of Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 5.4% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 289,905 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,976 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $11,106,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Essential Utilities during the first quarter worth about $27,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Essential Utilities in the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new stake in Essential Utilities in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Colleen Arnold sold 2,855 shares of the company’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 transaction, the insider owned 17,347 shares in the company, valued at approximately $686,073.85. This represents a 14.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

NYSE WTRG opened at $41.04 on Friday. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 52-week low of $36.10 and a 52-week high of $42.51. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.78. The company has a market capitalization of $11.65 billion, a PE ratio of 20.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.64.

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

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 11th were issued a $0.3606 dividend. This is a boost 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 3.5%. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is presently 73.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on WTRG. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. UBS Group upped their target price on Essential Utilities from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings raised Essential Utilities from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded 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, three have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.75.

Essential Utilities Profile

Essential Utilities, Inc (NYSE: WTRG) is a regulated utility company that provides essential water, wastewater and natural gas services to residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers. Its water operations include the treatment and distribution of drinking water, while its wastewater operations collect and treat sewage. The company’s natural gas business distributes gas through regulated utility networks.

The company operates primarily through its Aqua and Peoples businesses.