Cerity Partners LLC Buys 9,483 Shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 106.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 18,397 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,483 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $687,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the 4th quarter worth $52,964,000. Nuance Investments LLC bought a new stake in Essential Utilities during the third quarter worth about $21,570,000. Beck Bode LLC acquired a new stake in Essential Utilities during the third quarter worth about $8,028,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Essential Utilities by 2,242.1% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 238,027 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,171,000 after buying an additional 227,864 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised 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 valued at $100,182,000 after buying an additional 166,891 shares in the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $51.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Essential Utilities news, CAO Robert A. Rubin sold 5,565 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $2,149,100.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

Essential Utilities stock opened at $36.27 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The stock has a market cap of $9.92 billion, a PE ratio of 19.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.82. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.07 and a 12-month high of $44.05. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $35.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $35.71.

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

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a $0.3071 dividend. This represents a $1.23 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.39%. This is a boost from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.13%.

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.