Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG – Free Report) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 18,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $714,000.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,280,829,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 5.5% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,119,170 shares of the company’s stock worth $502,595,000 after buying an additional 687,688 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the second quarter worth approximately $134,247,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Essential Utilities by 1,224.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,233,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $126,728,000 after buying an additional 2,989,455 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Essential Utilities by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,881,490 shares of the company’s stock worth $116,049,000 after buying an additional 106,252 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.
Essential Utilities Trading Down 1.2%
Essential Utilities stock opened at $45.49 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $13.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.62. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 1 year low of $36.10 and a 1 year high of $46.36. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $41.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.40.
Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 3rd. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $508.26 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $450.44 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 8.36% and a net margin of 21.79%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.33 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Essential Utilities Announces Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 10th will be given a dividend of $0.3606 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 10th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is 72.36%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
WTRG has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group lowered their target price on Essential Utilities from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Barclays increased their price target on Essential Utilities from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Essential Utilities from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.00.
Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Essential Utilities
About Essential Utilities
Essential Utilities, Inc is a regulated utility company that provides water and wastewater services through its Aqua operations and natural gas distribution through Peoples Natural Gas. Its services include treating and delivering drinking water, collecting and treating wastewater, and supplying natural gas to homes and businesses.
The company traces its water utility roots to the Springfield Water Company, founded in Pennsylvania in 1886. It adopted the Essential Utilities name in 2020, following its acquisition of Peoples Natural Gas and the expansion of its business beyond water and wastewater services.
Essential Utilities serves customers in several states, including Pennsylvania, Ohio, North Carolina, Illinois, Texas, New Jersey, Indiana and Virginia.
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