Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG Position Lessened by Toth Financial Advisory Corp

Toth Financial Advisory Corp lessened its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 13.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 103,740 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,627 shares during the quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $4,066,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WTRG. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Essential Utilities during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Essential Utilities in the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the 1st quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 111.1% during the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 542 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities Stock Up 0.4%

WTRG traded up $0.16 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $38.69. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 475,737 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,251,004. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.75, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 1 year low of $36.10 and a 1 year high of $42.51. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $40.40 and its 200-day moving average is $39.23.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $538.90 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.38 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.21 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th were paid a dividend of $0.3606 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 11th. 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%. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Essential Utilities news, insider Colleen Arnold sold 2,855 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.55, for a total value of $112,915.25. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 17,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $686,073.85. The trade was a 14.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

About Essential Utilities

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.