International Assets Investment Management LLC Buys New Position in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 95,934 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,583,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its position in Essential Utilities by 4,210.0% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 862 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 842 shares during the last quarter. Cambiar Investors LLC grew its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 33.2% during the 4th quarter. Cambiar Investors LLC now owns 303,518 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,336,000 after acquiring an additional 75,708 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in Essential Utilities in the 4th quarter worth about $230,000. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Essential Utilities by 527.6% in the 4th quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 21,502 shares of the company’s stock worth $803,000 after purchasing an additional 18,076 shares during the period. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its stake in Essential Utilities by 38.4% in the 4th quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 352,142 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,091,000 after purchasing an additional 97,689 shares during the period. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

Shares of Essential Utilities stock opened at $38.78 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.80. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a one year low of $32.07 and a one year high of $43.26.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.01. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 29.52% and a return on equity of 8.62%. The business had revenue of $479.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $708.50 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 32.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 2 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a $0.3071 dividend. This is an increase from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $1.23 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.17%. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is 58.29%.

Insider Activity at Essential Utilities

In other news, CAO Robert A. Rubin sold 5,565 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.21, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Essential Utilities news, CAO Robert A. Rubin sold 5,565 shares of Essential Utilities stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 57,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,149,100.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Robert A. Rubin sold 2,023 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.56, for a total value of $73,960.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 13,358 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $488,368.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WTRG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Essential Utilities from $44.00 to $43.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Essential Utilities from $51.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essential Utilities presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.00.

Essential Utilities 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.