Amalgamated Bank Increases Position in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Amalgamated Bank boosted its position in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 3.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 141,586 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,439 shares during the quarter. Amalgamated Bank owned 0.05% of Essential Utilities worth $5,285,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Essential Utilities by 4.5% during the second quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,947 shares of the company’s stock valued at $259,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 6,491 shares of the company’s stock valued at $240,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in Essential Utilities by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 6,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Essential Utilities by 8.7% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,416 shares of the company’s stock worth $165,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Affirmative Financial Network boosted its position in Essential Utilities by 5.1% during the first quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 7,910 shares of the company’s stock valued at $293,000 after buying an additional 386 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Activity

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

Essential Utilities Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE:WTRG opened at $38.00 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $39.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.90. The stock has a market cap of $10.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.01, a P/E/G ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.07 and a 12 month high of $41.78.

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

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 an increase from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.43%. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.61%.

Essential Utilities Company 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.