Voya Investment Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Key Points

• Voya Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Essential Utilities Inc. by 13.8% during the first quarter, owning 67,762 shares valued at approximately $2.68 million.
• Essential Utilities reported earnings per share of $0.38 for the last quarter, surpassing estimates, and had quarterly revenue of $514.91 million, an 18.5% increase year-over-year.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.3426 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 3.7%.

Voya Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) by 13.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 67,762 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 8,234 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC's holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $2,679,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Maple Brown Abbott Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the 1st quarter valued at about $94,251,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,526,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 122.7% in 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 in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 16.5% in the 1st quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 2,476,811 shares of the company's stock valued at $97,908,000 after purchasing an additional 349,904 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 1,924.2% in 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.78% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WTRG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Essential Utilities from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, August 31st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. 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 research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Essential Utilities from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 25th. Four research 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 stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $44.40.

Essential Utilities Stock Up 0.3%

NYSE:WTRG traded up $0.12 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $37.16. The company's stock had a trading volume of 622,346 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,767,101. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $38.25 and a 200-day moving average of $38.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.83. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 52-week low of $33.18 and a 52-week high of $41.65. 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 (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 27.62%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.28 earnings per share. Essential Utilities has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.070-2.110 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $0.3426 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 12th. This is a positive change 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 58.80%.

About Essential Utilities

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.