Boston Trust Walden Corp Increases Stock Holdings in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its stake in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) by 22.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 198,172 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 35,679 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp owned approximately 0.07% of Essential Utilities worth $7,402,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 93,533 shares of the company's stock worth $3,521,000 after acquiring an additional 3,176 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 69,062 shares of the company's stock worth $2,579,000 after acquiring an additional 540 shares during the last quarter. Coston McIsaac & Partners boosted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Coston McIsaac & Partners now owns 95,830 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,579,000 after buying an additional 4,768 shares during the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 60,271 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,251,000 after buying an additional 2,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Secure Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter valued at $1,305,000. 74.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Essential Utilities Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of Essential Utilities stock traded down $0.67 on Friday, reaching $35.83. The company had a trading volume of 1,552,419 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,686,216. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $35.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $35.65. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.07 and a 1 year high of $45.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market cap of $9.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.26, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.82.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 8.68% and a net margin of 24.26%. The company had revenue of $479.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $708.50 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.44 EPS. Essential Utilities's revenue was down 32.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 2 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 Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued 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 yield of 3.43%. This is a boost from Essential Utilities's previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Essential Utilities's payout ratio is presently 66.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $43.00.

Insider Activity at Essential Utilities

In related news, CAO Robert A. Rubin sold 5,565 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.21, for a total value of $207,073.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 57,756 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,149,100.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.