IFM Investors Pty Ltd Purchases 8,033 Shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

IFM Investors Pty Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 8.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 100,421 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,033 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $3,721,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. LPL Financial LLC raised its position in Essential Utilities by 14.2% in the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 235,841 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,096,000 after buying an additional 29,372 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its position in Essential Utilities by 94.0% during the third quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 81,799 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,808,000 after purchasing an additional 39,643 shares during the period. Mariner LLC lifted its position in Essential Utilities by 9.9% during the third quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 34,360 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,180,000 after purchasing an additional 3,104 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,583,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Essential Utilities by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,168,585 shares of the company’s stock worth $932,698,000 after purchasing an additional 99,560 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Essential Utilities from $51.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essential Utilities currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Robert A. Rubin sold 5,565 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.21, for a total transaction of $207,073.65. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 57,756 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,149,100.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of Essential Utilities stock traded down $0.48 on Friday, hitting $36.09. 1,273,344 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,636,954. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.07 and a 1 year high of $43.74. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.87 billion, a PE ratio of 19.40, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.82.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $479.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $708.50 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 8.68% and a net margin of 24.26%. Essential Utilities’s revenue for the quarter was down 32.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.44 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 2 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a $0.3071 dividend. This represents a $1.23 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.40%. This is a positive change from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.13%.

Essential Utilities 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.