Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) Shares Sold by Institute for Wealth Management LLC.

Institute for Wealth Management LLC. lowered its position in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,830 shares of the company’s stock after selling 345 shares during the period. Institute for Wealth Management LLC.’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $404,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WTRG. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter worth about $206,493,000. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter worth about $52,964,000. Balyasny Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the third quarter worth about $26,728,000. Nuance Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the third quarter worth about $21,570,000. Finally, BlackRock Inc. increased its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 2.0% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 30,129,227 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,315,141,000 after purchasing an additional 576,448 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essential Utilities

In other Essential Utilities news, CAO Robert A. Rubin sold 5,565 shares of Essential Utilities stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 57,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,149,100.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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 given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Essential Utilities presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.00.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of WTRG stock opened at $35.44 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.69 billion, a PE ratio of 19.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.82. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.07 and a 52-week high of $44.05. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $35.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $35.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $479.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $708.50 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 8.68% and a net margin of 24.26%. 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 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 2 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The firm 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 $0.3071 dividend. This represents a $1.23 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This is a positive change from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is currently 66.13%.

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.