IFM Investors Pty Ltd Sells 4,286 Shares of Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

IFM Investors Pty Ltd decreased its stake in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 5.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 69,999 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,286 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $2,600,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter worth approximately $638,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter worth $183,000. Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter worth $278,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter valued at $7,511,000. Finally, Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH purchased a new position in Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter valued at $49,000. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WTRG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Essential Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 31st. Zacks Research lowered shares of Essential Utilities from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 25th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.40.

Essential Utilities Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE:WTRG opened at $37.07 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.40 billion, a PE ratio of 15.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 52-week low of $33.18 and a 52-week high of $41.65. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.58.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $514.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $462.70 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 27.62%.The business’s revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.28 EPS. Essential Utilities has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.070-2.110 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 12th were paid a $0.3426 dividend. This represents a $1.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 12th. This is a positive change from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.80%.

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.