Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG Shares Bought by Allworth Financial LP

Allworth Financial LP increased its position in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 1.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 192,104 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,335 shares during the quarter. Allworth Financial LP owned 0.07% of Essential Utilities worth $7,135,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. SouthState Corp raised its position in Essential Utilities by 834.7% in the second quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 701 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 626 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. National Pension Service lifted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 75.0% during the 1st quarter. National Pension Service now owns 950 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group increased its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 101.8% during the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,360 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 686 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on WTRG. Wall Street Zen upgraded Essential Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 11th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 price objective (down from $46.00) on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $47.00 to $44.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.57.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

Shares of WTRG opened at $39.49 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $39.30 and its 200-day moving average is $38.70. 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 $11.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.84. Essential Utilities Inc. has a one year low of $33.18 and a one year high of $42.37.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.06. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 27.62% and a return on equity of 10.10%. The business had revenue of $476.97 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $472.40 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.25 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Essential Utilities has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.070-2.110 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.3426 per share. This represents a $1.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 12th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.85%.

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.