Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG Shares Acquired by Blair William & Co. IL

Blair William & Co. IL raised its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 24,011 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 878 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $892,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. National Pension Service lifted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 75.0% in the 1st quarter. National Pension Service now owns 950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 101.8% in the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,360 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 686 shares during the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research downgraded Essential Utilities from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Essential Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 11th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Essential Utilities has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.17.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of WTRG stock opened at $41.35 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $11.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.23 and a beta of 0.82. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $38.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.64. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 12-month low of $33.18 and a 12-month high of $41.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last issued its earnings results 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. 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.28 EPS. Essential Utilities has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.070-2.110 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 12th were issued a $0.3426 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 12th. This represents a $1.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. This is an increase from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is currently 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.