First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Makes New Investment in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. acquired a new position in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 12,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $473,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 2,544,883 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,517,000 after purchasing an additional 68,072 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 2,438,783 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,405,000 after purchasing an additional 92,112 shares during the last quarter. Maple Brown Abbott Ltd bought a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $94,251,000. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC increased its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 2,166,797 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,653,000 after purchasing an additional 123,786 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,103,777 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,162,000 after purchasing an additional 31,909 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on WTRG shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Essential Utilities from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Zacks Research raised Essential Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Barclays upped 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. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.17.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of Essential Utilities stock opened at $41.24 on Friday. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 52 week low of $33.18 and a 52 week high of $42.37. The company has a market capitalization of $11.57 billion, a PE ratio of 17.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.29 and a beta of 0.82. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $39.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.75. 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 (NYSE:WTRG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.09. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 27.62%.The business had revenue of $514.91 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $462.70 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.28 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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. As a group, analysts expect that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

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

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.