1,100 Shares in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) Acquired by Webster Bank N. A.

Webster Bank N. A. bought a new position in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WTRG. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 78.9% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 737 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 52.9% during the 4th quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 977 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares in the last quarter. Hamilton Point Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Hamilton Point Investment Advisors LLC now owns 69,788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,607,000 after acquiring an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New Hampshire lifted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 3,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Affirmative Financial Network lifted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 7,910 shares of the company’s stock valued at $293,000 after acquiring an additional 386 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WTRG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI dropped their price target 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. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $44.00 to $43.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essential Utilities has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Robert A. Rubin sold 2,023 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.56, for a total transaction of $73,960.88. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 13,358 shares in the company, valued at approximately $488,368.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Robert A. Rubin sold 2,023 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.56, for a total transaction of $73,960.88. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 13,358 shares in the company, valued at approximately $488,368.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $207,073.65. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 57,756 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,149,100.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of WTRG stock traded down $0.06 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $37.33. 1,696,995 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,190,482. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.07 and a 1-year high of $43.26. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $37.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.21 billion, a PE ratio of 17.69, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.84.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.03). Essential Utilities had a net margin of 29.52% and a return on equity of 8.62%. The firm had revenue of $612.07 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $747.44 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.97 EPS for the current year.

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.