Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG Shares Bought by Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC

Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 67,629 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,260 shares during the quarter. Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $2,512,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new stake in Essential Utilities during the 1st quarter worth $1,507,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in Essential Utilities by 14.2% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 9,775 shares of the company’s stock worth $386,000 after purchasing an additional 1,218 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the 4th quarter worth $638,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 107,240 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,239,000 after acquiring an additional 4,015 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 28.2% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 498,669 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,713,000 after acquiring an additional 109,582 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities Stock Down 2.4%

Shares of WTRG opened at $39.75 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $11.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.82. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 12-month low of $33.18 and a 12-month high of $41.65. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $38.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.61. 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) last issued 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. The firm had revenue of $514.91 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $462.70 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 27.62% and a return on equity of 10.10%. Essential Utilities’s revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.28 EPS. Essential Utilities has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.070-2.110 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th were paid a dividend of $0.3426 per share. This represents a $1.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. This is a boost from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 12th. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is currently 58.80%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on WTRG. Barclays lifted their price target on Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Essential Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.17.

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.