Insider Selling: Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) CAO Sells 2,023 Shares of Stock

Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) CAO Robert A. Rubin sold 2,023 shares of Essential Utilities stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 13,358 shares in the company, valued at $488,368.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

WTRG traded up $0.08 during trading on Friday, reaching $37.76. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,473,728 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,801,550. The company has a market cap of $10.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.31, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.80. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.83. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.07 and a 1 year high of $43.74. 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 - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 23rd. The company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 8.68% and a net margin of 24.26%. The firm's revenue was down 32.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.44 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 2 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This is a boost from Essential Utilities's previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $1.23 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.25%. Essential Utilities's payout ratio is presently 66.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Evercore ISI lowered their price target 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 investment 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.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $43.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essential Utilities

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,992,080 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,045,504,000 after buying an additional 823,495 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Essential Utilities by 17,553.7% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,425,350 shares of the company's stock worth $126,156,000 after acquiring an additional 3,405,947 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Essential Utilities by 0.7% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,386,733 shares of the company's stock valued at $116,267,000 after purchasing an additional 24,991 shares during the period. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 3,069,377 shares of the company's stock valued at $114,641,000 after purchasing an additional 313,277 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,918,202 shares of the company's stock worth $100,182,000 after purchasing an additional 166,891 shares during the period. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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