Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG Shares Purchased by Aberdeen Group plc

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group plc increased its stake in Essential Utilities Inc. by 4.4%, now owning 157,084 shares worth approximately $5.76 million.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed ratings for Essential Utilities, with five analysts recommending a Buy rating and a price target increase to $47.00.
• Essential Utilities recently raised its quarterly dividend to $0.3426 per share, reflecting a 3.3% annualized yield, up from the previous $0.33.

Aberdeen Group plc boosted its holdings in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) by 4.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 157,084 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,674 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc owned about 0.06% of Essential Utilities worth $5,763,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its stake in Essential Utilities by 3.8% in the second quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 24,011 shares of the company's stock valued at $892,000 after buying an additional 878 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in Essential Utilities by 6.6% in the second quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 15,179 shares of the company's stock valued at $564,000 after buying an additional 943 shares during the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its stake in Essential Utilities by 8.8% in the second quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 245,821 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,130,000 after buying an additional 19,794 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in Essential Utilities by 2.5% in the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 72,600 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,696,000 after buying an additional 1,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC lifted its stake in Essential Utilities by 1.9% in the second quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 25,724 shares of the company's stock valued at $955,000 after buying an additional 469 shares during the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Zacks Research cut Essential Utilities from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 25th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Essential Utilities from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, October 11th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group increased their price target on Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $45.17.

Essential Utilities Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of WTRG stock opened at $41.35 on Friday. Essential Utilities Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $33.18 and a fifty-two week high of $41.65. The stock has a market cap of $11.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.75, a P/E/G ratio of 4.23 and a beta of 0.82. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $514.91 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $462.70 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.28 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. Essential Utilities has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.070-2.110 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th were paid a $0.3426 dividend. This represents a $1.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. 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. Essential Utilities's dividend payout ratio is 58.80%.

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.

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.