NINE MASTS CAPITAL Ltd Buys Shares of 30,000 Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Posted by Brian Himes on Aug 18th, 2026

NINE MASTS CAPITAL Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG – Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 30,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,149,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac bought a new stake in Essential Utilities in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Essential Utilities during the first quarter worth about $27,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Essential Utilities during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Motiv8 Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Essential Utilities to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, July 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Essential Utilities has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.00.

View Our Latest Report on WTRG

Insider Activity at Essential Utilities

In related news, insider Colleen Arnold sold 2,855 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.55, for a total value of $112,915.25. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 17,347 shares in the company, valued at approximately $686,073.85. This represents a 14.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of WTRG stock opened at $39.89 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.32 billion, a PE ratio of 20.35 and a beta of 0.64. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 52-week low of $36.10 and a 52-week high of $42.37. The business’s fifty day moving average is $38.83 and its 200 day moving average is $38.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.78.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $530.85 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $538.90 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 8.23% and a net margin of 21.60%.The firm’s revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.38 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.3606 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 11th. This is a positive change from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is presently 73.47%.

About Essential Utilities

(Free Report)

Essential Utilities, Inc, formerly known as Aqua America, is a publicly traded water and natural gas utility holding company. Through its regulated water and wastewater subsidiaries, the company provides essential water services to residential, commercial and industrial customers. In addition, Essential Utilities delivers natural gas distribution services in Pennsylvania through its Peoples Gas subsidiary, offering integrated utility solutions under a unified corporate framework.

The company traces its roots to the Philadelphia Suburban Water Company, founded in 1886 to serve growing communities outside Philadelphia.