Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Purchases 15,009 Shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) by 12.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 139,534 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 15,009 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 0.05% of Essential Utilities worth $5,171,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in Essential Utilities during the 1st quarter worth approximately $46,280,000. Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 11.6% during the 1st quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 559,950 shares of the company's stock worth $20,746,000 after purchasing an additional 58,018 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 39.5% during the 1st quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,575 shares of the company's stock worth $318,000 after purchasing an additional 2,427 shares in the last quarter. Delap Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the 1st quarter worth about $202,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the 1st quarter worth about $87,000. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WTRG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $44.00 to $43.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essential Utilities currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $43.40.

Essential Utilities Stock Down 2.2 %

NYSE:WTRG traded down $0.93 on Monday, hitting $40.56. The stock had a trading volume of 2,203,296 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,593,572. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market cap of $11.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 0.83. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.07 and a 1 year high of $41.78. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $38.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.10.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.03). Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 29.52%. The company had revenue of $612.07 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $747.44 million. Analysts predict that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th will be issued a $0.3255 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 12th. This is an increase from Essential Utilities's previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. Essential Utilities's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Robert A. Rubin sold 2,342 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.43, for a total value of $87,661.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly 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 this link. 0.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Essential Utilities

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.