Swedbank AB Raises Holdings 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 stake in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) by 24.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 368,485 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 73,034 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB owned 0.13% of Essential Utilities worth $14,566,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional 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 raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Essential Utilities during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Essential Utilities Stock Down 0.3%

WTRG stock traded down $0.13 on Friday, reaching $37.08. 6,770,585 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,893,165. Essential Utilities Inc. has a one year low of $33.18 and a one year high of $41.65. 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 company has a market cap of $10.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.83. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.59.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $462.70 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.28 EPS. The firm'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. Research analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 12th were given 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. Essential Utilities's dividend payout ratio is 58.80%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on WTRG. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Essential Utilities from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. UBS Group upped their price target on Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Zacks Research lowered Essential Utilities from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Essential Utilities from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, August 31st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company 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.