Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC lifted its position in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,360,631 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 193,834 shares during the period. Essential Utilities comprises about 1.3% of Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $87,674,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Essential Utilities by 24.7% in the first quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 1,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 27.6% during the 1st quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 1,406 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares during the period. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV grew its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 32,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,272,000 after acquiring an additional 307 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 16,322 shares of the company’s stock valued at $645,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Essential Utilities by 17.4% in the 1st quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 2,471 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on WTRG. Baird R W lowered Essential Utilities from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 11th. One research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $44.57.

Essential Utilities Stock Down 0.4%

NYSE WTRG opened at $39.53 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $39.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.73. The company has a market cap of $11.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.84. Essential Utilities Inc. has a one year low of $33.18 and a one year high of $42.37.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $476.97 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $472.40 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 27.62% and a return on equity of 10.10%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.25 earnings per share. Essential Utilities has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.070-2.110 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.3426 per share. 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 payout ratio is currently 56.85%.

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.