Swedbank AB Raises Position in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Key Points

• Swedbank AB increased its stake in Essential Utilities Inc. by 24.7% in Q1, owning 368,485 shares valued at approximately $14.57 million.
• Essential Utilities reported earnings of $0.38 per share for the last quarter, which exceeded analysts' predictions, along with an 18.5% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.3426 per share, marking a slight increase from the previous dividend, with an annualized yield of 3.6%.

Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) by 24.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 368,485 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 73,034 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB owned about 0.13% of Essential Utilities worth $14,566,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Maple Brown Abbott Ltd acquired a new stake in Essential Utilities in the first quarter valued at approximately $94,251,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the 1st quarter valued at $25,526,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 122.7% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 943,797 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,308,000 after purchasing an additional 519,933 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its stake in Essential Utilities by 16.5% in the 1st quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 2,476,811 shares of the company's stock worth $97,908,000 after acquiring an additional 349,904 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 1,924.2% during the 1st quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 285,309 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,278,000 after purchasing an additional 271,214 shares during the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Essential Utilities Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of WTRG traded down $0.50 on Tuesday, reaching $37.30. The stock had a trading volume of 1,687,673 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,873,281. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.83. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 12-month low of $33.18 and a 12-month high of $41.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.73.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $514.91 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $462.70 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 27.62%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.28 EPS. Essential Utilities has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.070-2.110 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current 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 $0.3426 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 12th. This is an increase from Essential Utilities's previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. Essential Utilities's dividend payout ratio is presently 58.80%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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