Insider Selling: Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) CAO Sells $73,960.88 in Stock

Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) CAO Robert A. Rubin sold 2,023 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.56, for a total value of $73,960.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 13,358 shares in the company, valued at $488,368.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Essential Utilities Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:WTRG opened at $37.78 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $10.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.91, a PEG ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.48. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.07 and a 1 year high of $43.74. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $35.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.89.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $479.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $708.50 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 8.72% and a net margin of 29.52%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 32.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.44 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 2 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.3071 per share. This is an increase 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 3.25%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.82%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new position in Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 857.5% in the first quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 699 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 626 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 604.0% in the fourth quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 711 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 610 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 78.9% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 737 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares during the period. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 4,210.0% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 862 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 842 shares during the period. 74.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Evercore ISI cut their target price 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.00.

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.