W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. Buys 977 Shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. raised its stake in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 10.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 10,347 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 977 shares during the period. W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc.’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $386,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Choreo LLC lifted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 3.1% in the third quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 10,417 shares of the company’s stock worth $358,000 after buying an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised 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 worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich boosted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 10,831 shares of the company’s stock valued at $372,000 after acquiring an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. Hamilton Point Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 3.0% in the third quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 12,631 shares of the company’s stock valued at $434,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Evercore ISI decreased 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.00.

Essential Utilities Trading Up 0.3 %

WTRG stock traded up $0.10 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $37.78. 1,473,736 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,799,371. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.62. The business has a 50 day moving average of $35.86 and a 200-day moving average of $35.89. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.07 and a 52-week high of $43.74.

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. The company had revenue of $479.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $708.50 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 8.72% and a net margin of 29.52%. Essential Utilities’s quarterly revenue was down 32.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.44 EPS. As a group, sell-side 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a $0.3071 dividend. This represents a $1.23 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This is a positive change from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Essential Utilities news, CAO Robert A. Rubin sold 2,023 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.56, for a total value of $73,960.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 13,358 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $488,368.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Essential Utilities news, CAO Robert A. Rubin sold 2,023 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.56, for a total value of $73,960.88. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 13,358 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $488,368.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 value of $207,073.65. Following the completion of the sale, 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. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.