Cerity Partners LLC Has $687,000 Stock Position in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 106.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,397 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 9,483 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $687,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new position in Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter worth $52,964,000. Nuance Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the 3rd quarter worth about $21,570,000. Beck Bode LLC bought a new position in Essential Utilities during the 3rd quarter valued at about $8,028,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Essential Utilities by 2,242.1% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 238,027 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,171,000 after buying an additional 227,864 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 6.1% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,918,202 shares of the company’s stock worth $100,182,000 after buying an additional 166,891 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Robert A. Rubin sold 5,565 shares of Essential Utilities stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 57,756 shares in the company, valued at $2,149,100.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Essential Utilities Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:WTRG opened at $36.27 on Wednesday. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.07 and a 12 month high of $44.05. The firm has a market cap of $9.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $35.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $35.71.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.01. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 24.26% and a return on equity of 8.68%. The business had revenue of $479.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $708.50 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.44 earnings per share. Essential Utilities’s revenue was down 32.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 2 EPS 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 given a dividend of $0.3071 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $1.23 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.39%. This is an increase from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is presently 66.13%.

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.