Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) Stake Lessened by W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc.

W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. lessened its stake in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 16.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,727 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,110 shares during the period. W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc.’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $226,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Allianz SE bought a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the first quarter worth $440,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Essential Utilities by 87.8% during the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 20,037 shares of the company’s stock valued at $792,000 after purchasing an additional 9,369 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its stake in Essential Utilities by 8.5% during the first quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 9,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $392,000 after purchasing an additional 773 shares during the last quarter. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp bought a new stake in Essential Utilities during the first quarter valued at $205,000. Finally, Commerce Bank increased its stake in Essential Utilities by 17.7% during the first quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 9,092 shares of the company’s stock valued at $359,000 after purchasing an additional 1,364 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on WTRG shares. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.50.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of WTRG opened at $38.22 on Monday. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 1 year low of $33.18 and a 1 year high of $41.78. The company has a market cap of $10.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.73. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $37.57 and a 200-day moving average of $37.94.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.09. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 27.62% and a return on equity of 10.10%. The company had revenue of $514.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $462.70 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.28 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.3426 per share. This represents a $1.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. This is a positive change from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 12th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.30%.

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.