Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc. lowered its position in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 8.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,434 shares of the company’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $203,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WTRG. Bare Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in Essential Utilities during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its position in Essential Utilities by 604.0% during the 4th quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 711 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 610 shares in the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its position in Essential Utilities by 78.9% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 737 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its position in Essential Utilities by 4,210.0% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 862 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 842 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Resources Management Corp CT ADV increased its position in Essential Utilities by 250.0% during the 3rd quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV now owns 1,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

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 for the company 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Essential Utilities has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.00.

Essential Utilities Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:WTRG traded up $0.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $37.78. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,473,736 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,799,371. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $35.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.48. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.07 and a twelve month high of $43.74. The stock has a market cap of $10.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.80.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.01. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 8.72% and a net margin of 29.52%. The firm had revenue of $479.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $708.50 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.44 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 32.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 2 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a $0.3071 dividend. This is a positive change from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.23 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is currently 58.29%.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 13,358 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $488,368.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Robert A. Rubin sold 2,023 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.56, for a total transaction of $73,960.88. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 13,358 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $488,368.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Robert A. Rubin sold 5,565 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.21, for a total value of $207,073.65. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 57,756 shares in the company, valued at $2,149,100.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities Company Profile

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.