Mutual of America Capital Management LLC Sells 5,736 Shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC lessened its position in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 144,077 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,736 shares during the quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC owned about 0.05% of Essential Utilities worth $5,378,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 24.7% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 152,120 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,636,000 after purchasing an additional 30,152 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Essential Utilities by 12.1% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 139,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,171,000 after buying an additional 15,009 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Essential Utilities by 17,553.7% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,425,350 shares of the company’s stock worth $126,156,000 after buying an additional 3,405,947 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the first quarter worth approximately $46,280,000. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 350.3% in the second quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 903,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,723,000 after acquiring an additional 702,760 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WTRG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Essential Utilities in a research note on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.50.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

Shares of Essential Utilities stock opened at $38.00 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $10.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.85. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.90. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.07 and a twelve month high of $41.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.58.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.02). Essential Utilities had a net margin of 28.74% and a return on equity of 8.16%. The company had revenue of $434.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $442.76 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.34 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a dividend of $0.3255 per share. This is a positive change from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essential Utilities

In other news, CAO Robert A. Rubin sold 2,342 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.43, for a total value of $87,661.06. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 53,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,998,425.13. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities Profile

Essential Utilities, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates regulated utilities that provide water, wastewater, or natural gas services in the United States. The company operates through Regulated Water and Regulated Natural Gas segments. It offers water services through operating and maintenance contract with municipal authorities and other parties.