Bank of New York Mellon Corp Acquires 7,137 Shares of Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,679,144 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,137 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $99,503,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in Essential Utilities during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $638,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new stake in Essential Utilities during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,507,000. Penserra Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Essential Utilities during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $393,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 3.9% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 107,240 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,239,000 after buying an additional 4,015 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 0.3% in the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 354,731 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,692,000 after buying an additional 895 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

Essential Utilities stock opened at $39.64 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $11.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.01, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.84. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $39.30 and its 200 day moving average is $38.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 52-week low of $33.18 and a 52-week high of $42.37.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.06. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 27.62% and a return on equity of 10.10%. The business had revenue of $476.97 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $472.40 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.25 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Essential Utilities has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.070-2.110 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 12th. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is presently 56.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on WTRG shares. Baird R W lowered shares of Essential Utilities from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 price objective (down previously from $46.00) on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Essential Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essential Utilities currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $44.57.

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.