Greenleaf Trust Purchases New Shares in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Greenleaf Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 6,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $235,000.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in WTRG. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 604.0% during the fourth quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 711 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 610 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 4,210.0% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 862 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 842 shares in the last quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV lifted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 250.0% during the third quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV now owns 1,050 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the third quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the third quarter valued at about $41,000. 74.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Evercore ISI lowered 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 report on Monday, March 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Essential Utilities has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.00.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of WTRG stock opened at $36.54 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $9.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.62. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.07 and a 52 week high of $44.05. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.72.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 23rd. The company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.01. The business 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was down 32.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.44 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 2 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.3071 per share. This is a boost from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.23 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.13%.

Insider Activity at Essential Utilities

In related news, CAO Robert A. Rubin sold 5,565 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,149,100.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Essential Utilities Company Profile

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.