Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors Invests $207,000 in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 5,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 604.0% during the fourth quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 711 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 610 shares during the last quarter. PSI Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Essential Utilities during the third quarter worth $31,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 4,210.0% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 862 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 842 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 112.6% during the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 863 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 457 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 155.4% during the third quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,042 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 634 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of WTRG stock opened at $33.88 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $9.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $35.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $35.63. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a one year low of $32.07 and a one year high of $44.05.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $479.40 million during 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was down 32.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.44 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 2 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.3071 per share. This represents a $1.23 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.63%. 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. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Transactions at Essential Utilities

In other news, CAO Robert A. Rubin sold 5,565 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.