Short Interest in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) Declines By 18.6%

Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,370,000 shares, a drop of 18.6% from the March 31st total of 6,600,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,790,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.0 days.

Essential Utilities Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:WTRG traded down $0.48 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $36.09. 1,273,344 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,636,954. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $35.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $35.75. The stock has a market cap of $9.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.82. Essential Utilities has a 12-month low of $32.07 and a 12-month high of $43.74. 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 issued 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 for 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 period last year, the company posted $0.44 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Essential Utilities will post 2 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a dividend of $0.3071 per share. This represents a $1.23 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This is a boost from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio 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 firm’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 value of $207,073.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now 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 at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WTRG. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Essential Utilities during the 4th quarter worth about $97,288,000. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new position in Essential Utilities in the 4th quarter worth about $52,964,000. UBS Group AG increased its stake in Essential Utilities by 271.9% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,225,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,785,000 after acquiring an additional 896,223 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Essential Utilities by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,992,080 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,045,504,000 after acquiring an additional 823,495 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuance Investments LLC bought a new position in Essential Utilities in the 3rd quarter worth about $21,570,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Evercore ISI cut their target price on Essential Utilities from $51.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essential Utilities has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.00.

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.