Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Boosts Holdings in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Key Points

• Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. significantly increased its holdings in Essential Utilities Inc. by 1,924.2%, bringing its total to 285,309 shares valued at approximately $11.28 million.
• Essential Utilities recently reported earnings of $0.38 per share for the last quarter, surpassing estimates and showing a year-over-year revenue increase of 18.5%.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.3426 per share, representing an annualized dividend yield of 3.5%.

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its stake in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) by 1,924.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 285,309 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 271,214 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. owned 0.10% of Essential Utilities worth $11,278,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the first quarter worth $1,507,000. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 8.0% during the first quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 25,255 shares of the company's stock worth $998,000 after purchasing an additional 1,867 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 14.2% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 9,775 shares of the company's stock worth $386,000 after purchasing an additional 1,218 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter worth $638,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 3.9% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 107,240 shares of the company's stock worth $4,239,000 after purchasing an additional 4,015 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.78% of the company's stock.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

NYSE WTRG traded up $0.25 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $38.22. 2,665,943 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,746,999. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 52-week low of $33.18 and a 52-week high of $41.65. The company has a market capitalization of $10.72 billion, a PE ratio of 16.40, a PEG ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 0.83. 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's 50-day moving average is $38.19 and its 200-day moving average is $38.62.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $514.91 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.28 EPS. Essential Utilities has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.070-2.110 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th were paid a dividend of $0.3426 per share. 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 12th. Essential Utilities's payout ratio is 58.80%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WTRG. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Essential Utilities from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, August 31st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Essential Utilities from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 25th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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.