AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs purchased a new position in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 15,521 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $598,000.
Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. American National Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the 1st quarter worth about $35,000. National Pension Service boosted 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 worth $38,000 after buying an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company's stock.
Essential Utilities Trading Down 1.3%
WTRG stock traded down $0.50 on Tuesday, reaching $37.30. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,687,673 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,873,281. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.63. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 12-month low of $33.18 and a 12-month high of $41.65. The firm has a market cap of $10.46 billion, a PE ratio of 16.01, a PEG ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.73.
Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.09. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 27.62%.The company had revenue of $514.91 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $462.70 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.28 earnings per share. The firm's revenue 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, research analysts forecast that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current year.
Essential Utilities Increases Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. Essential Utilities's payout ratio is 58.80%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
WTRG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Essential Utilities from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Zacks Research lowered Essential Utilities from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 25th. Wall Street Zen raised Essential Utilities from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, August 31st. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Essential Utilities has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $44.50.
Read Our Latest Report on Essential Utilities
About Essential Utilities
(
Free Report)
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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