Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.33

Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 20th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be given a dividend of 0.3255 per share on Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 13th.

Essential Utilities has increased its dividend by an average of 6.8% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 32 consecutive years. Essential Utilities has a payout ratio of 58.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Essential Utilities to earn $2.13 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.30 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 61.0%.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

NYSE:WTRG opened at $36.58 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $10.04 billion, a PE ratio of 18.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.86. Essential Utilities has a 12 month low of $33.18 and a 12 month high of $41.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $35.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.92.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on WTRG shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Essential Utilities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $43.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Essential Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $41.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped 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, November 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.00.

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.