Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) Announces Dividend Increase - $0.36 Per Share

Key Points

• Essential Utilities increased its quarterly dividend 5.3% to $0.3606 per share, payable September 1 to shareholders of record on August 11. The annualized dividend yield is approximately 3.5%.
• The company has raised its dividend for 32 consecutive years, with a current payout ratio of 61.4%; analysts expect future earnings to comfortably cover the annualized $1.37 dividend.
• Essential Utilities’ latest quarterly EPS of $0.83 missed the $0.90 consensus estimate, although revenue rose 10% year over year to $861.76 million.

Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, July 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be given a dividend of 0.3606 per share on Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 11th. This is a 5.3% increase from Essential Utilities's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34.

Essential Utilities has raised its dividend by an average of 0.1%annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 32 years. Essential Utilities has a payout ratio of 61.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Essential Utilities to earn $2.42 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.37 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 56.6%.

Essential Utilities Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE WTRG opened at $40.66 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.53 billion, a PE ratio of 20.64 and a beta of 0.65. Essential Utilities has a twelve month low of $36.10 and a twelve month high of $42.37. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.87.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $861.76 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $782.90 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 8.34% and a net margin of 21.82%.Essential Utilities's revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Essential Utilities will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current year.

About Essential Utilities

Essential Utilities, Inc, formerly known as Aqua America, is a publicly traded water and natural gas utility holding company. Through its regulated water and wastewater subsidiaries, the company provides essential water services to residential, commercial and industrial customers. In addition, Essential Utilities delivers natural gas distribution services in Pennsylvania through its Peoples Gas subsidiary, offering integrated utility solutions under a unified corporate framework.

The company traces its roots to the Philadelphia Suburban Water Company, founded in 1886 to serve growing communities outside Philadelphia.

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