Truist Financial Corp Acquires 4,965 Shares of Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Truist Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 22.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,742 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,965 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $993,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WTRG. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 10.4% during the second quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 85,573 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,178,000 after buying an additional 8,041 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 14.3% during the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,969 shares of the company’s stock valued at $110,000 after buying an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Covea Finance lifted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 90.7% during the second quarter. Covea Finance now owns 65,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,444,000 after buying an additional 31,300 shares during the last quarter. Bfsg LLC lifted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 39.2% during the second quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 2,022 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 569 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 41.6% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,747 shares of the company’s stock valued at $176,000 after buying an additional 1,395 shares during the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WTRG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Essential Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. UBS Group increased their price objective 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. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.17.

Essential Utilities Trading Down 2.4%

Shares of WTRG stock opened at $39.75 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $38.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.06, a PEG ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.82. Essential Utilities Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $33.18 and a fifty-two week high of $41.65.

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

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.3426 per share. This is a boost from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 12th. 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.