Aspire Private Capital LLC Makes New $791,000 Investment in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Aspire Private Capital LLC bought a new position in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 21,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $791,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Essential Utilities by 0.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,168,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $932,698,000 after buying an additional 99,560 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,386,733 shares of the company’s stock worth $116,267,000 after buying an additional 24,991 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,918,202 shares of the company’s stock worth $100,182,000 after buying an additional 166,891 shares during the last quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 3.6% during the third quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,966,687 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,516,000 after acquiring an additional 67,465 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Essential Utilities by 4.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,768,562 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,715,000 after acquiring an additional 74,800 shares during the period. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Essential Utilities

In other Essential Utilities news, CAO Robert A. Rubin sold 5,565 shares of Essential Utilities stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.21, for a total value of $207,073.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 57,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,149,100.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $51.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essential Utilities presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.00.

Essential Utilities Stock Up 1.3 %

WTRG traded up $0.46 during trading on Monday, reaching $35.90. The stock had a trading volume of 1,740,174 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,803,356. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The company has a market capitalization of $9.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.05, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.82. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $35.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.67. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a one year low of $32.07 and a one year high of $44.05.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 23rd. The company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.01. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 24.26% and a return on equity of 8.68%. The business had revenue of $479.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $708.50 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.44 earnings per share. Essential Utilities’s quarterly revenue was down 32.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 2 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a $0.3071 dividend. This is a boost from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $1.23 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.42%. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is presently 66.13%.

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.