Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $43.00.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on WTRG shares. UBS Group cut their price target on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Essential Utilities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $43.00 to $39.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $44.00 to $41.00 in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Essential Utilities in a research report on Friday, September 20th.

Essential Utilities Trading Up 0.6 %

Essential Utilities stock traded up $0.20 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $33.94. The company had a trading volume of 166,108 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,256,849. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market cap of $9.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.97, a P/E/G ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $37.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.78. Essential Utilities has a 1 year low of $33.18 and a 1 year high of $41.78.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $435.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $416.95 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 7.89% and a net margin of 27.84%. Essential Utilities’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.30 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities will post 2.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a $0.3255 dividend. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.00%.

Institutional Trading of Essential Utilities

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WTRG. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in Essential Utilities in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the third quarter worth $26,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the third quarter worth $28,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 61.4% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 773 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the 3rd quarter valued at $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

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.