Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG Shares Bought by Ingalls & Snyder LLC

Ingalls & Snyder LLC boosted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 19.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,103 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,640 shares during the quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $598,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WTRG. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter worth about $638,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its position in Essential Utilities by 13.1% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 92,272 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,648,000 after buying an additional 10,718 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 14.2% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 9,775 shares of the company’s stock valued at $386,000 after purchasing an additional 1,218 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 15.6% in the first quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 105,125 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,156,000 after purchasing an additional 14,168 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 5.9% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 536,718 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,216,000 after purchasing an additional 29,708 shares in the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of WTRG opened at $41.24 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.73. The company has a market capitalization of $11.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.70, a PEG ratio of 4.29 and a beta of 0.82. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.76. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 1 year low of $33.18 and a 1 year high of $42.37.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.09. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 27.62% and a return on equity of 10.10%. The business had revenue of $514.91 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $462.70 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.28 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Essential Utilities has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.070-2.110 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 12th will be given a dividend of $0.3426 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 12th. This represents a $1.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is 58.80%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on WTRG. UBS Group upped their price target 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. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Friday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Essential Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 11th. Zacks Research raised shares of Essential Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essential Utilities presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.17.

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.