Intrua Financial LLC Buys New Position in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Key Points

• Intrua Financial LLC has acquired a new position in Essential Utilities Inc., purchasing 10,654 shares valued at approximately $421,000 during the first quarter.
• Analysts have recently set new price targets for Essential Utilities, with UBS Group raising their target from $42.00 to $47.00 and maintaining a "buy" rating.
• Essential Utilities announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.3426 per share, compared to the previous $0.33, resulting in an annualized yield of 3.6%.

Intrua Financial LLC bought a new stake in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 10,654 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $421,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WTRG. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. purchased a new position in Essential Utilities in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. American National Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Essential Utilities during the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. National Pension Service lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CX Institutional bought a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the 1st quarter valued at $42,000. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company's stock.

Essential Utilities Trading Up 0.0%

NYSE WTRG traded up $0.02 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $37.32. 506,421 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,739,226. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $38.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.58. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 12-month low of $33.18 and a 12-month high of $41.65. The firm has a market cap of $10.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.02, a PEG ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.83.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $462.70 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.28 EPS. Essential Utilities's revenue for the quarter 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. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.3426 per share. This represents a $1.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. 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 currently 58.80%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports 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 raised Essential Utilities from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, August 31st. UBS Group boosted their target price on Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Essential Utilities from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essential Utilities presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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.