International Assets Investment Management LLC Makes New $3.58 Million Investment in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 95,934 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,583,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WTRG. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 2.0% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 30,129,227 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,315,141,000 after purchasing an additional 576,448 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 0.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,168,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $932,698,000 after purchasing an additional 99,560 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 1.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,295,529 shares of the company’s stock valued at $550,169,000 after purchasing an additional 149,565 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter valued at $206,493,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 0.7% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,386,733 shares of the company’s stock valued at $116,267,000 after purchasing an additional 24,991 shares during the period. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Evercore ISI decreased 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 note on Monday, March 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essential Utilities news, CAO Robert A. Rubin sold 5,565 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.21, for a total transaction of $207,073.65. Following the sale, 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 the SEC website. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Essential Utilities Trading Up 1.9 %

NYSE WTRG opened at $34.51 on Thursday. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.07 and a 12 month high of $44.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The company has a market capitalization of $9.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.82. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $35.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $35.62.

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

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.3071 per share. This represents a $1.23 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.56%. This is a boost from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is 65.59%.

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.