13,984 Shares in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG Bought by 111 Capital

Key Points

• 111 Capital has purchased 13,984 shares of Essential Utilities Inc. valued at approximately $519,000, marking a new position for the firm.
• Essential Utilities reported earnings per share of $0.38 for the last quarter, exceeding the consensus estimate and indicating an 18.5% increase in quarterly revenue compared to the previous year.
• The company recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.3426 per share, which represents an annualized yield of 3.5%.

111 Capital purchased a new position in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 13,984 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $519,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Bfsg LLC lifted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 22.1% during the first quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 1,453 shares of the company's stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 24.7% in the first quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 1,531 shares of the company's stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 303 shares during the period. Community Bank N.A. raised its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 1.3% in the first quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 23,928 shares of the company's stock valued at $946,000 after buying an additional 304 shares during the period. Truvestments Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 27.6% in the first quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 1,406 shares of the company's stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 304 shares during the period. Finally, Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV raised its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 1.0% in the first quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 32,175 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,272,000 after buying an additional 307 shares during the period. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WTRG opened at $39.39 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $11.05 billion, a PE ratio of 16.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.61 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. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $38.46 and a 200-day moving average of $38.52.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $514.91 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $462.70 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 27.62%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.28 earnings per share. Essential Utilities has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.070-2.110 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.3426 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 12th. This is a positive change from Essential Utilities's previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. Essential Utilities's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.80%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on WTRG. Zacks Research lowered Essential Utilities from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 25th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Essential Utilities from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen lowered Essential Utilities from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. 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, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $44.00.

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.

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