Royal Bank of Canada Purchases 109,582 Shares of Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) by 28.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 498,669 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 109,582 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned about 0.18% of Essential Utilities worth $19,713,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WTRG. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter worth about $638,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets bought a new stake in Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter worth about $5,268,000. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in Essential Utilities by 52.7% in the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 27,451 shares of the company's stock worth $997,000 after acquiring an additional 9,470 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth raised its position in Essential Utilities by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 21,278 shares of the company's stock worth $773,000 after acquiring an additional 1,646 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in Essential Utilities by 24.1% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 58,006 shares of the company's stock worth $2,107,000 after acquiring an additional 11,253 shares in the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Essential Utilities Stock Up 0.1%

NYSE:WTRG traded up $0.06 on Friday, hitting $38.30. 1,774,764 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,856,478. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 1 year low of $33.18 and a 1 year high of $41.65. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $38.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.63. The company has a market cap of $10.74 billion, a PE ratio of 16.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 0.83.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last released 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. 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 analysts' expectations of $462.70 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.28 EPS. The business'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. Equities analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The firm 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 is a boost 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 yield of 3.6%. Essential Utilities's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.80%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Zacks Research downgraded Essential Utilities from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 25th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Essential Utilities from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, August 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Essential Utilities from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.