Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) Insider Sells 2,855 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Insider sale: Colleen Arnold sold 2,855 Essential Utilities shares at an average price of $39.55, reducing her stake by 14.13% to 17,347 shares.
• Financial and stock performance: WTRG shares rose 0.7% to $40.05. The company reported quarterly EPS of $0.38, slightly above estimates, while revenue increased 3.1% year over year but came in below expectations.
• Dividend and analyst outlook: Essential Utilities raised its quarterly dividend to $0.3606 per share, providing a 3.6% annualized yield. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $43.00.

Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) insider Colleen Arnold sold 2,855 shares of Essential Utilities stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.55, for a total transaction of $112,915.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 17,347 shares of the company's stock, valued at $686,073.85. This represents a 14.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Essential Utilities Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:WTRG traded up $0.27 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $40.05. The stock had a trading volume of 1,613,303 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,229,948. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 1 year low of $36.10 and a 1 year high of $42.37. The firm's 50 day moving average is $38.58 and its 200-day moving average is $38.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.43 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.78.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.01. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 21.60% and a return on equity of 8.23%. The firm had revenue of $530.85 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $538.90 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.38 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be given a dividend of $0.3606 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 11th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. This is an increase from Essential Utilities's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Essential Utilities's payout ratio is currently 69.90%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essential Utilities

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WTRG. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in Essential Utilities during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $638,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 12,861 shares of the company's stock worth $508,000 after acquiring an additional 928 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 1.8% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 29,674 shares of the company's stock worth $1,173,000 after acquiring an additional 530 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in Essential Utilities by 122.7% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 943,797 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,308,000 after purchasing an additional 519,933 shares during the period. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth boosted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 22,322 shares of the company's stock valued at $882,000 after purchasing an additional 1,044 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.78% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Essential Utilities to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, July 4th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $43.00.

About Essential Utilities

Essential Utilities, Inc, formerly known as Aqua America, is a publicly traded water and natural gas utility holding company. Through its regulated water and wastewater subsidiaries, the company provides essential water services to residential, commercial and industrial customers. In addition, Essential Utilities delivers natural gas distribution services in Pennsylvania through its Peoples Gas subsidiary, offering integrated utility solutions under a unified corporate framework.

The company traces its roots to the Philadelphia Suburban Water Company, founded in 1886 to serve growing communities outside Philadelphia.

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