Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.01 EPS

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday. The company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.01, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $435.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $416.95 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 27.84% and a return on equity of 7.94%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.30 EPS.

Essential Utilities Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE WTRG traded up $0.23 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $40.35. 2,530,546 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,533,723. The firm has a market cap of $11.04 billion, a PE ratio of 20.18, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.44. Essential Utilities has a 52-week low of $33.28 and a 52-week high of $41.78. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.67.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be paid a $0.3255 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.23%. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is 65.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on WTRG. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Essential Utilities in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Essential Utilities in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $44.00 price objective on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.60.

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.