Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Essential Utilities Inc. has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy", with two analysts recommending a hold and four recommending a buy, indicating confidence in its stock performance.
• The average 12-month price target set by brokerages for the stock is $44.40, with recent upgrades raising some targets to $47.00.
• The company has recently increased its dividend by nearly 4%, with a current yield of 3.7%, reflecting strong cash flow and commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) has received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the six analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $44.40.

A number of research firms recently commented on WTRG. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Essential Utilities from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 25th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Essential Utilities from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, August 31st.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essential Utilities

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. SouthState Corp boosted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 834.7% during the 2nd quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 701 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 626 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Essential Utilities during the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in Essential Utilities during the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. bought a new position in Essential Utilities during the first quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, American National Bank & Trust bought a new position in Essential Utilities during the first quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.78% of the company's stock.

Essential Utilities Trading Up 0.7%

Essential Utilities stock traded up $0.26 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $37.30. The stock had a trading volume of 676,603 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,767,577. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $38.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.58. Essential Utilities has a twelve month low of $33.18 and a twelve month high of $41.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The firm has a market cap of $10.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.01, a PEG ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.83.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.09. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 27.62% and a return on equity of 10.10%. The firm had revenue of $514.91 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $462.70 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.28 EPS. The company's revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. Essential Utilities has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.070-2.110 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities will post 1.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th were paid a dividend of $0.3426 per share. This is an increase from Essential Utilities's previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 12th. This represents a $1.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. Essential Utilities's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.80%.

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.