AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Has $33.42 Million Stock Position in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Key Points

• AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc increased its stake in Essential Utilities Inc. by 18.4%, now owning approximately $33.42 million worth of shares.
• The company reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.38, exceeding analysts' expectations and reflecting an 18.5% year-over-year revenue increase.
• Essential Utilities recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.3426, marking an increase from its prior dividend, with a current yield of 3.4%.

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) by 18.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 900,380 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 139,727 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc owned about 0.32% of Essential Utilities worth $33,422,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the 1st quarter worth $1,507,000. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the 4th quarter worth $638,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its position in Essential Utilities by 14.2% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 9,775 shares of the company's stock worth $386,000 after acquiring an additional 1,218 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Essential Utilities by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 107,240 shares of the company's stock worth $4,239,000 after acquiring an additional 4,015 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in Essential Utilities by 28.2% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 498,669 shares of the company's stock worth $19,713,000 after acquiring an additional 109,582 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.78% of the company's stock.

Essential Utilities Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of WTRG stock opened at $39.95 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $11.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.14, a PEG ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.82. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $38.87 and a 200-day moving average of $38.62. 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 Inc. has a 1-year low of $33.18 and a 1-year high of $41.65.

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

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th were paid a $0.3426 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 dividend yield of 3.4%. Essential Utilities's payout ratio is currently 58.80%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on WTRG shares. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Zacks Research lowered Essential Utilities from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Essential Utilities from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $45.17.

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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