Amundi Reduces Stock Position in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Key Points

• Amundi reduced its stake in Essential Utilities Inc. by 19.3%, owning approximately 1.99% of the company, which is valued at $218.5 million.
• The company's recent earnings report showed a quarterly EPS of $0.38, surpassing expectations of $0.29, and an 18.5% year-over-year revenue increase to $514.91 million.
• Essential Utilities announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.3426 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 3.5%.

Amundi lowered its position in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) by 19.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,490,062 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,312,889 shares during the quarter. Amundi owned about 1.99% of Essential Utilities worth $218,529,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Essential Utilities in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the 1st quarter worth $33,000. American National Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. National Pension Service grew its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 75.0% in the first 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, Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. 74.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

NYSE:WTRG traded down $0.19 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $38.09. The stock had a trading volume of 471,516 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,732,258. The stock has a market cap of $10.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.83. 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 50 day simple moving average of $38.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.62. 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 earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $462.70 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.28 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Essential Utilities has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.070-2.110 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 12th were paid a $0.3426 dividend. 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Essential Utilities's payout ratio is presently 58.80%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WTRG. Zacks Research lowered 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 report on Sunday, August 31st. UBS Group upped their target price on Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target 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. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essential Utilities presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $44.50.

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.