AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs Takes $598,000 Position in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Key Points

• AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs purchased 15,521 shares of Essential Utilities Inc. for approximately $598,000 during the first quarter.
• Essential Utilities reported a net margin of 27.62% and exceeded earnings estimates with $0.38 EPS compared to the consensus of $0.29 for the recent quarter.
• The company has announced a dividend increase to $0.3426 per share, representing an annual yield of 3.6%.

AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs bought a new position in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 15,521 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $598,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Maple Brown Abbott Ltd bought a new position in Essential Utilities during the 1st quarter valued at $94,251,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Essential Utilities during the 1st quarter valued at $25,526,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 122.7% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 943,797 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,308,000 after purchasing an additional 519,933 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 16.5% during the 1st quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 2,476,811 shares of the company's stock valued at $97,908,000 after purchasing an additional 349,904 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 1,924.2% during the 1st quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 285,309 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,278,000 after purchasing an additional 271,214 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.78% of the company's stock.

Essential Utilities Trading Up 0.1%

Essential Utilities stock traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $37.25. The company had a trading volume of 452,521 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,739,663. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $38.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.61. The firm has a market cap of $10.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.98, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.83. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 12-month low of $33.18 and a 12-month high of $41.65.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $514.91 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $462.70 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 27.62% and a return on equity of 10.10%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.28 EPS. Essential Utilities has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.070-2.110 EPS. Equities 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th were issued a $0.3426 dividend. This represents a $1.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. This is a positive change from Essential Utilities's previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 12th. Essential Utilities's dividend payout ratio is presently 58.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Essential Utilities from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, August 31st. Zacks Research lowered Essential Utilities from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 25th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Essential Utilities from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $44.50.

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.