Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) Shares Bought by Bank of New Hampshire

Bank of New Hampshire raised its position in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 13.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,250 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 375 shares during the period. Bank of New Hampshire’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $121,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WTRG. LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 14.2% in the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 235,841 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,096,000 after purchasing an additional 29,372 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky raised its stake in Essential Utilities by 94.0% in the third quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 81,799 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,808,000 after buying an additional 39,643 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC raised its stake in Essential Utilities by 9.9% in the third quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 34,360 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,180,000 after buying an additional 3,104 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Essential Utilities by 0.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,168,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $932,698,000 after buying an additional 99,560 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter valued at $3,583,000. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Evercore ISI cut their price target on 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essential Utilities has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.00.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

WTRG traded up $0.03 during trading on Thursday, reaching $36.57. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,124,199 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,826,322. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.07 and a 52-week high of $43.84. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $35.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.72. The company has a market capitalization of $10.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.65, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 (NYSE:WTRG) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 8.68% and a net margin of 24.26%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 32.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.44 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 2 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a $0.3071 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This is an increase from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.23 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is 66.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essential Utilities

In other Essential Utilities news, CAO Robert A. Rubin sold 5,565 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Essential Utilities

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.