Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Sells 7,784 Shares of Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Key Points

• Janney Montgomery Scott LLC reduced its holdings in Essential Utilities Inc. by 6.4%, selling 7,784 shares and now holding 113,559 shares valued at approximately $4.2 million.
• Essential Utilities recently raised its quarterly dividend from $0.33 to $0.3426 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend of $1.37 and a yield of 3.4%.
• UBS Group upgraded its price target for Essential Utilities from $42 to $47, while research ratings for the company show a consensus of five "Buy" ratings and three "Hold" ratings.

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lowered its position in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) by 6.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 113,559 shares of the company's stock after selling 7,784 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC's holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $4,218,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 16.5% during the first quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 2,476,811 shares of the company's stock worth $97,908,000 after purchasing an additional 349,904 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 3.9% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 2,438,783 shares of the company's stock worth $96,405,000 after purchasing an additional 92,112 shares during the period. Maple Brown Abbott Ltd bought a new position in Essential Utilities during the 1st quarter worth $94,251,000. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC increased its stake in Essential Utilities by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 2,166,797 shares of the company's stock worth $85,653,000 after acquiring an additional 123,786 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Essential Utilities by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,103,777 shares of the company's stock worth $83,162,000 after acquiring an additional 31,909 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WTRG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Wall Street Zen lowered Essential Utilities from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Zacks Research lowered Essential Utilities from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 25th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $44.00.

Essential Utilities Trading Up 1.4%

NYSE WTRG opened at $40.64 on Wednesday. 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 Inc. has a twelve month low of $33.18 and a twelve month high of $41.65. The company has a market cap of $11.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 0.82. The business's fifty day moving average is $38.60 and its 200 day moving average is $38.55.

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 for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $514.91 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $462.70 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.28 EPS. Essential Utilities'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. As a group, sell-side analysts expect 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 issued a dividend of $0.3426 per share. This is a positive change from Essential Utilities's previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 12th. This represents a $1.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Essential Utilities's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.80%.

Essential Utilities Company 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.

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