First National Bank & Trust Co. of Newtown Has $4.60 Million Stock Holdings in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

First National Bank & Trust Co. of Newtown trimmed its position in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 123,168 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,205 shares during the quarter. Essential Utilities accounts for 1.0% of First National Bank & Trust Co. of Newtown’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. First National Bank & Trust Co. of Newtown’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $4,599,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WTRG. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the 4th quarter worth $206,493,000. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the 4th quarter worth $52,964,000. Balyasny Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the 3rd quarter worth $26,728,000. Nuance Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the 3rd quarter worth $21,570,000. Finally, BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 30,129,227 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,315,141,000 after buying an additional 576,448 shares during the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on 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 issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.00.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

Shares of WTRG stock traded up $0.37 on Friday, hitting $35.53. 275,122 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,762,333. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.48. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.07 and a 12 month high of $44.05. The stock has a market cap of $9.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a 50 day moving average of $35.69 and a 200 day moving average of $35.62.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $479.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $708.50 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 8.68% and a net margin of 24.26%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 32.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.44 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a $0.3071 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This is an increase from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.23 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.46%. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essential Utilities

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

Essential Utilities Company 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.