Meridian Wealth Partners LLC Makes New $213,000 Investment in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Meridian Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 5,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $213,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WTRG. Gitterman Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Essential Utilities by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Gitterman Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,864 shares of the company’s stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 423 shares during the last quarter. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. now owns 186,922 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,982,000 after buying an additional 5,918 shares during the period. Bank of New Hampshire grew its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 3,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,000 after buying an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. increased its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 30,041 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,122,000 after buying an additional 1,233 shares during the period. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 8,378 shares of the company’s stock worth $313,000 after acquiring an additional 531 shares during the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Evercore ISI decreased 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essential Utilities

In other news, CAO Robert A. Rubin sold 5,565 shares of the company’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 transaction of $207,073.65. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 57,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,149,100.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities Trading Down 1.3 %

NYSE WTRG traded down $0.48 during trading hours 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. The firm has a market cap of $9.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.40, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.82. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.07 and a 1-year high of $43.74. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.75. 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 (NYSE:WTRG) last posted its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $479.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $708.50 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 24.26% and a return on equity of 8.68%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 32.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.44 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a $0.3071 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. 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. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.13%.

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.