Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG Shares Acquired by Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.

Key Points

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Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) by 42.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,627 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 9,647 shares during the quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.'s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $1,290,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of WTRG. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the first quarter worth $31,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the first quarter worth $33,000. American National Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the first quarter worth $35,000. National Pension Service grew its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 75.0% during the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 950 shares of the company's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.78% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WTRG. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Essential Utilities from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Essential Utilities currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $44.50.

Essential Utilities Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE WTRG traded down $0.0650 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $39.2050. The company had a trading volume of 1,443,158 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,953,816. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $37.72 and a 200 day moving average of $38.27. 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 market capitalization of $11.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.78.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $514.91 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $462.70 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 27.62% and a return on equity of 10.10%. Essential Utilities's revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.28 earnings per share. Essential Utilities has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.070-2.110 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be given a dividend of $0.3426 per share. This is a boost from Essential Utilities's previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 12th. Essential Utilities's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.