Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) Given Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Essential Utilities Inc. has received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from analysts, with five out of six analysts rating it a buy.
• The company recently reported a strong earnings performance, with $0.38 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding expectations of $0.29.
• Essential Utilities has increased its quarterly dividend to $0.3426 per share, reflecting a dividend yield of 3.5% and a payout ratio of 58.80%.

Shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the seven research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $44.50.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Zacks Research cut shares of Essential Utilities from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 25th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday.

Essential Utilities Stock Down 0.3%

WTRG traded down $0.12 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $39.55. The company had a trading volume of 2,721,209 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,087,314. The company has a market capitalization of $11.09 billion, a PE ratio of 16.97, a PEG ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 0.83. Essential Utilities has a one year low of $33.18 and a one year high of $41.65. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $38.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

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

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.3426 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 12th. This represents a $1.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. This is a positive change from Essential Utilities's previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. Essential Utilities's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.80%.

Institutional Trading of Essential Utilities

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WTRG. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Essential Utilities during the second quarter worth about $102,347,000. Maple Brown Abbott Ltd bought a new position in Essential Utilities in the first quarter valued at approximately $94,251,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 1,572.4% during the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,271,201 shares of the company's stock worth $47,212,000 after purchasing an additional 1,195,189 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,407,634 shares of the company's stock worth $1,129,340,000 after purchasing an additional 693,988 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ensign Peak Advisors Inc raised its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 74.6% during the 4th quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 1,593,053 shares of the company's stock worth $57,860,000 after purchasing an additional 680,760 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.