Jones Financial Companies Lllp Decreases Position in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Key Points

• Jones Financial Companies Lllp reduced its stake in Essential Utilities Inc. by 39.7%, selling 95,442 shares during the first quarter, leaving them with 144,791 shares valued at approximately $5.87 million.
• Essential Utilities reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.38 for the last quarter, surpassing analyst expectations of $0.29, with a revenue of $514.91 million, which was also above projected figures.
• The company increased its quarterly dividend to $0.3426 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend of $1.37 and a dividend yield of 3.6%, a rise from the previous dividend of $0.33.

Jones Financial Companies Lllp lessened its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) by 39.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 144,791 shares of the company's stock after selling 95,442 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp owned 0.05% of Essential Utilities worth $5,869,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of WTRG. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Essential Utilities during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. purchased a new stake in Essential Utilities during the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. American National Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Essential Utilities during the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. National Pension Service grew its stake in Essential Utilities by 75.0% during the 1st quarter. National Pension Service now owns 950 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Essential Utilities during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.78% of the company's stock.

Essential Utilities Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:WTRG traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $38.30. 1,774,764 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,856,478. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The firm has a market cap of $10.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.44, a P/E/G ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 0.83. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $38.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.63. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 1 year low of $33.18 and a 1 year high of $41.65.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $514.91 million during 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%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.28 EPS. Essential Utilities has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.070-2.110 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast 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 $0.3426 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 12th. This represents a $1.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. This is a boost from Essential Utilities's previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. Essential Utilities's dividend payout ratio is 58.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WTRG. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective 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. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Zacks Research cut shares of Essential Utilities from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Essential Utilities from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, August 31st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $44.50.

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.