Community Bank N.A. Buys 1,233 Shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Community Bank N.A. grew its stake in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 30,041 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,233 shares during the period. Community Bank N.A.’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $1,122,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. CWM LLC grew its holdings in Essential Utilities by 31.9% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,856 shares of the company’s stock worth $132,000 after purchasing an additional 933 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Essential Utilities by 3.6% during the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 32,528 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,117,000 after purchasing an additional 1,139 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp bought a new position in Essential Utilities during the third quarter worth about $5,578,000. Caprock Group LLC grew its holdings in Essential Utilities by 33.6% during the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 7,386 shares of the company’s stock worth $254,000 after purchasing an additional 1,859 shares during the period. Finally, IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd grew its holdings in Essential Utilities by 61.7% during the third quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd now owns 27,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $936,000 after purchasing an additional 10,405 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Essential Utilities Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WTRG traded up $0.14 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $36.68. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 497,319 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,817,947. 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 fifty-two week low of $32.07 and a fifty-two week high of $43.84. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $35.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $35.72. The company has a market cap of $10.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.82.

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 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 company had revenue of $479.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $708.50 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.44 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 32.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a $0.3071 dividend. This represents a $1.23 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.35%. This is an increase from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is presently 66.13%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Robert A. Rubin sold 5,565 shares of Essential Utilities stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were 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 directly owns 57,756 shares in the company, valued at $2,149,100.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company 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.