Aberdeen Group plc Decreases Stock Holdings in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group plc has reduced its stake in Essential Utilities Inc. by 14.4%, holding 150,410 shares valued at approximately $5.92 million after selling 25,311 shares.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Essential Utilities, with UBS increasing it from $42.00 to $47.00, contributing to a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a price target of $44.50.
• Essential Utilities has announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.3426, raising the annualized dividend to $1.37, reflecting a yield of 3.5%.

Aberdeen Group plc reduced its stake in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) by 14.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 150,410 shares of the company's stock after selling 25,311 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc owned 0.05% of Essential Utilities worth $5,923,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WTRG. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Essential Utilities during the first quarter worth $31,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the 1st quarter worth $33,000. American National Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the first quarter valued at about $35,000. National Pension Service increased its position in Essential Utilities by 75.0% during the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 950 shares of the company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.78% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on WTRG shares. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of 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 upped their price objective on Essential Utilities from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Essential Utilities from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Essential Utilities has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $44.50.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of WTRG stock opened at $39.2250 on Thursday. 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 cap of $11.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.78. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $37.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.25. Essential Utilities Inc. has a one year low of $33.18 and a one year high of $41.65.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 27.62% and a return on equity of 10.10%. The firm had revenue of $514.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $462.70 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.28 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. Essential Utilities has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.070-2.110 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be issued a $0.3426 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 12th. This represents a $1.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. This is a boost from Essential Utilities's previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. Essential Utilities's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.80%.

Essential Utilities Company 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.

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