Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its position in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) by 8.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 245,821 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 19,794 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System owned 0.09% of Essential Utilities worth $9,130,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the 1st quarter worth $33,000. National Pension Service grew 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 acquiring an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CX Institutional acquired a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the 1st quarter worth $42,000. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WTRG. UBS Group lifted their target price on Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Zacks Research downgraded Essential Utilities from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 25th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Essential Utilities from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Essential Utilities from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on Essential Utilities in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. They set an "overweight" rating and a $42.00 price target on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essential Utilities has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $44.00.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on Essential Utilities
Essential Utilities Price Performance
WTRG opened at $41.10 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $11.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.64, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.82. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 1 year low of $33.18 and a 1 year high of $41.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $38.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.57.
Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last released 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 firm 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 revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.28 earnings per share. Essential Utilities has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.070-2.110 EPS. Analysts forecast that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Essential Utilities Increases Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.3426 per share. 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 3.3%. Essential Utilities's payout ratio is 58.80%.
Essential Utilities Profile
(
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.
See Also
Want to see what other hedge funds are holding WTRG? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report).
This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.
Before you consider Essential Utilities, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Essential Utilities wasn't on the list.
While Essential Utilities currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Enter your email address and we'll send you MarketBeat's list of ten stocks that are set to soar in Fall 2025, despite the threat of tariffs and other economic uncertainty. These ten stocks are incredibly resilient and are likely to thrive in any economic environment.
Get This Free Report
Like this article? Share it with a colleague.
Link copied to clipboard.
