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

Ingalls & Snyder LLC raised its stake in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 19.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 16,103 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,640 shares during the period. Ingalls & Snyder LLC’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $598,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the first quarter worth $31,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the second quarter worth $31,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the first quarter worth $33,000. National Pension Service increased its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 75.0% in the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 950 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group increased its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 101.8% in the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,360 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 686 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

WTRG opened at $41.24 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.76. The firm has a market cap of $11.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.70, a PEG ratio of 4.29 and a beta of 0.82. Essential Utilities Inc. has a twelve month low of $33.18 and a twelve month high of $42.37. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $462.70 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.28 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. Essential Utilities has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.070-2.110 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WTRG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Essential Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 11th. Finally, UBS Group raised 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essential Utilities currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.17.

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.