Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC Raises Holdings in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC increased its position in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 9.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 70,943 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,988 shares during the period. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $2,635,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in Essential Utilities during the 4th quarter worth $638,000. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 28.2% during the first 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. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake 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 worth $4,239,000 after acquiring an additional 4,015 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in Essential Utilities by 1.3% during the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 543,918 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,201,000 after purchasing an additional 7,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in Essential Utilities in the first quarter valued at about $879,000. 74.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WTRG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Baird R W downgraded Essential Utilities from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Wall Street Zen raised Essential Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 11th. Barclays increased their price objective on Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Essential Utilities currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.57.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of WTRG opened at $39.64 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $39.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.71. The stock has a market cap of $11.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.01, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.84. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 12-month low of $33.18 and a 12-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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.06. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 27.62%.The firm had revenue of $476.97 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $472.40 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.25 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Essential Utilities has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.070-2.110 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th will be given a $0.3426 dividend. This represents a $1.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 12th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.85%.

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.