Toth Financial Advisory Corp Reduces Stake in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Toth Financial Advisory Corp decreased its position in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 13.8% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 103,740 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,627 shares during the period. Toth Financial Advisory Corp’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $4,066,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WTRG. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Essential Utilities in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,280,829,000. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,119,170 shares of the company’s stock worth $502,595,000 after purchasing an additional 687,688 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the second quarter worth $134,247,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 3.8% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,881,490 shares of the company’s stock worth $116,049,000 after purchasing an additional 106,252 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the second quarter valued at $92,467,000. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Essential Utilities

In other Essential Utilities news, insider Colleen Arnold sold 2,855 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.55, for a total value of $112,915.25. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 17,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $686,073.85. This trade represents a 14.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

WTRG traded up $0.16 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $38.69. 475,737 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,251,004. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $40.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 52-week low of $36.10 and a 52-week high of $42.51.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.01. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 8.23% and a net margin of 21.60%.The firm had revenue of $530.85 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $538.90 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.38 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.21 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th were issued a $0.3606 dividend. This is a positive change from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.3426. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 11th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on Essential Utilities from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Essential Utilities from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Essential Utilities to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Essential Utilities currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.75.

Essential Utilities Profile

Essential Utilities, Inc is a regulated utility company that provides essential water, wastewater and natural gas services to residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers. Its water operations include the treatment, distribution and supply of drinking water, while its wastewater business manages the collection and treatment of sewage. The company also distributes natural gas through regulated utility operations.

The company serves customers across several U.S. states, including Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Texas, North Carolina, New Jersey, Indiana, Virginia, Georgia and West Virginia.