abrdn plc Has $14.98 Million Holdings in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

abrdn plc cut its position in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 0.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 400,996 shares of the company’s stock after selling 568 shares during the quarter. abrdn plc owned 0.15% of Essential Utilities worth $14,977,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WTRG. CWM LLC boosted its stake in Essential Utilities by 31.9% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,856 shares of the company’s stock worth $132,000 after purchasing an additional 933 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 3.6% during the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 32,528 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,117,000 after buying an additional 1,139 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp acquired a new position in Essential Utilities during the third quarter valued at $5,578,000. Caprock Group LLC raised its position in Essential Utilities by 33.6% during the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 7,386 shares of the company’s stock valued at $254,000 after buying an additional 1,859 shares during the period. Finally, IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd lifted its stake in Essential Utilities by 61.7% in the 3rd quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd now owns 27,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $936,000 after acquiring an additional 10,405 shares in the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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 research note on Monday, March 4th. One equities research 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 has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.00.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WTRG opened at $36.54 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.72. 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 1 year low of $32.07 and a 1 year high of $44.05. The firm has a market cap of $9.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.82.

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

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.3071 per share. 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. This represents a $1.23 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is 66.13%.

Insider Transactions at Essential Utilities

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

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.