Cambridge Trust Co. Sells 40,703 Shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Cambridge Trust Co. lowered its position in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 46.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,225 shares of the company’s stock after selling 40,703 shares during the period. Cambridge Trust Co.’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $1,764,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Essential Utilities by 15.7% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 11,774 shares of the company’s stock worth $602,000 after acquiring an additional 1,602 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. increased its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 80.7% in the first quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 37,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,932,000 after purchasing an additional 16,871 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Essential Utilities by 12.1% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,186,342 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,662,000 after purchasing an additional 127,695 shares during the last quarter. Aviva PLC purchased a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the first quarter worth approximately $5,907,000. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 3,972.9% in the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 524,708 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,828,000 after acquiring an additional 511,825 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Evercore ISI cut their price target 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.00.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WTRG opened at $35.17 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $35.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $35.62. The company has a market cap of $9.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.82. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.07 and a 12 month high of $44.05.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $479.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $708.50 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 8.68% and a net margin of 24.26%. Essential Utilities’s quarterly revenue was down 32.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $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 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 $0.3071 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $1.23 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.49%. This is a boost from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is 66.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essential Utilities

In other news, CAO Robert A. Rubin sold 5,565 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,149,100.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

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.