Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) Shares Sold by Hsbc Holdings PLC

Hsbc Holdings PLC lowered its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 29.8% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 37,977 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,156 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $1,419,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WTRG. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,992,080 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,045,504,000 after acquiring an additional 823,495 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 3,405,947 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,754,099 shares of the company’s stock worth $102,811,000 after acquiring an additional 9,822 shares during the period. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,023,937 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,554,000 after acquiring an additional 13,557 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,519,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,735,000 after acquiring an additional 86,193 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WTRG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Essential Utilities in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essential Utilities presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essential Utilities

In other news, CAO Robert A. Rubin sold 2,342 shares of Essential Utilities stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.43, for a total transaction of $87,661.06. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 53,391 shares in the company, valued at $1,998,425.13. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

NYSE:WTRG opened at $38.40 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $39.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.99. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.07 and a twelve month high of $41.78. The company has a market capitalization of $10.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.85.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last posted its 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). Essential Utilities had a net margin of 28.74% and a return on equity of 8.16%. The business had revenue of $434.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $442.76 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.34 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $0.3255 per share. 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 3.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.61%.

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.