Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) Stock Position Cut by Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC

Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 9.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 76,179 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,547 shares during the period. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $2,845,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in Essential Utilities by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 30,129,227 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,315,141,000 after buying an additional 576,448 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,168,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $932,698,000 after purchasing an additional 99,560 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,243,930 shares of the company’s stock valued at $568,475,000 after purchasing an additional 348,953 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the 4th quarter valued at about $206,493,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,599,518 shares of the company’s stock valued at $143,417,000 after purchasing an additional 213,245 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities Trading Up 0.7 %

WTRG stock traded up $0.24 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $37.04. 1,283,859 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,858,570. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.07 and a 52-week high of $45.29. The company has a market cap of $10.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.81. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $35.88 and its 200-day moving average is $35.70.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 23rd. The company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.01. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 24.26% and a return on equity of 8.68%. The company had revenue of $479.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $708.50 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.44 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 32.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 2 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This is a boost from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.23 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of 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 given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.00.

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.