Insider Selling: Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) CAO Sells $87,661.06 in Stock

Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) CAO Robert A. Rubin sold 2,342 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.43, for a total transaction of $87,661.06. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 53,391 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,998,425.13. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

WTRG stock opened at $36.74 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.05 billion, a PE ratio of 17.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.83. The company’s 50-day moving average is $37.63 and its 200-day moving average is $36.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.52. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.07 and a 1 year high of $43.26.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $612.07 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $747.44 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 29.52%. Equities research analysts expect that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essential Utilities

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 78.9% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 737 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 6,491 shares of the company’s stock worth $240,000 after acquiring an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 52.9% in the 4th quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 977 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 6,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hamilton Point Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Hamilton Point Investment Advisors LLC now owns 69,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,607,000 after acquiring an additional 342 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $44.00 to $43.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.00.

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.