Energy Income Partners LLC Has $28.50 Million Stock Position in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Key Points

• Energy Income Partners LLC increased its stake in Essential Utilities Inc. by 3.6% during the first quarter, owning approximately 0.26% of the company, valued at $28.5 million.
• Essential Utilities reported a quarterly EPS of $0.38, exceeding analysts' expectations, with revenue of $514.91 million, also surpassing estimates.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.3426, an increase from the previous $0.33, with a dividend yield of 3.5%.

Energy Income Partners LLC lifted its position in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) by 3.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 720,884 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 25,021 shares during the period. Energy Income Partners LLC owned about 0.26% of Essential Utilities worth $28,497,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WTRG. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Essential Utilities by 22.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,331,090 shares of the company's stock valued at $120,985,000 after purchasing an additional 601,026 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 16.5% during the first quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 2,476,811 shares of the company's stock valued at $97,908,000 after buying an additional 349,904 shares in the last quarter. Maple Brown Abbott Ltd purchased a new stake in Essential Utilities in the 1st quarter worth about $94,251,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Essential Utilities by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,346,671 shares of the company's stock worth $85,231,000 after acquiring an additional 192,456 shares during the period. Finally, Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC boosted its position in Essential Utilities by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 2,166,797 shares of the company's stock worth $85,653,000 after acquiring an additional 123,786 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.78% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WTRG has been the subject of several research reports. Zacks Research cut shares of Essential Utilities from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 25th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of 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 raised Essential Utilities from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essential Utilities presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $44.50.

Essential Utilities Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE WTRG traded down $0.21 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $38.62. 1,812,772 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,954,450. 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 market cap of $10.83 billion, a PE ratio of 16.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 0.83. The company's fifty day moving average is $38.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.52. Essential Utilities Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $33.18 and a fifty-two week 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 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 analyst estimates of $462.70 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 27.62%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.28 EPS. Essential Utilities has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.070-2.110 EPS. On average, analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th were issued a $0.3426 dividend. This is an increase from Essential Utilities's previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 12th. This represents a $1.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. Essential Utilities's payout ratio is 58.80%.

Essential Utilities 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.