Private Trust Co. NA Decreases Stock Holdings in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Private Trust Co. NA reduced its position in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 51.4% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,416 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,552 shares during the quarter. Private Trust Co. NA’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $90,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in Essential Utilities during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. bought a new position in Essential Utilities during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. National Pension Service lifted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 75.0% in the 1st quarter. National Pension Service now owns 950 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 407 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group grew its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 101.8% in the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,360 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 686 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on WTRG shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Essential Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 11th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essential Utilities currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.17.

Essential Utilities Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of Essential Utilities stock opened at $41.65 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.68 billion, a PE ratio of 17.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 0.82. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 52-week low of $33.18 and a 52-week high of $42.37. 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) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 27.62% and a return on equity of 10.10%. The company had revenue of $514.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $462.70 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.28 earnings per share. The firm’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, analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th were paid a $0.3426 dividend. 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 3.3%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 12th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.80%.

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.