Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) Cut to Equal Weight at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research note released on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has $39.00 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of $43.00.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on WTRG. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Friday, September 20th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $44.00 to $41.00 in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.20.

Essential Utilities Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE:WTRG opened at $35.00 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $9.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.86. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.55. Essential Utilities has a one year low of $33.57 and a one year high of $41.78.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.01. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 27.84% and a return on equity of 7.89%. The firm had revenue of $435.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $416.95 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.30 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities will post 2.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a dividend of $0.3255 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.72%. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essential Utilities

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its position in Essential Utilities by 12.6% during the second quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 62,621 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,338,000 after acquiring an additional 6,992 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC grew its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 8.3% in the second quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 8,785 shares of the company’s stock valued at $328,000 after purchasing an additional 670 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC lifted its position in Essential Utilities by 14.7% during the second quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 104,893 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,916,000 after buying an additional 13,412 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC lifted its position in Essential Utilities by 57.9% during the second quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 15,457 shares of the company’s stock worth $574,000 after buying an additional 5,666 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Services Automobile Association boosted its stake in Essential Utilities by 12.2% during the second quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 19,773 shares of the company’s stock worth $738,000 after buying an additional 2,144 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

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.