Yousif Capital Management LLC Buys 2,371 Shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 117,045 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,371 shares during the quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $4,372,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WTRG. CWM LLC grew its stake in Essential Utilities by 31.9% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $132,000 after buying an additional 933 shares during the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 3.6% in the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 32,528 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,117,000 after purchasing an additional 1,139 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 33.6% in 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. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI increased its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 14.5% in the third quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 42,381 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,455,000 after purchasing an additional 5,376 shares during the period. Finally, YHB Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 58,264 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,000,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Robert A. Rubin sold 5,565 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.21, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

NYSE:WTRG opened at $36.09 on Friday. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.07 and a 52-week high of $43.74. 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 company has a market cap of $9.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.40, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.82. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $35.74 and its 200-day moving average is $35.74.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last posted its 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. The business had revenue of $479.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $708.50 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 24.26% and a return on equity of 8.68%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 32.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.44 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 2 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.3071 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This is a boost from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.23 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.13%.

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.