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

Key Points

• Essential Utilities has a consensus analyst rating of "Moderate Buy" from nine covering analysts, with an average 12-month price target of $43.80.
• The company’s latest quarterly results were mixed: EPS came in below estimates at $0.83 versus $0.90 expected, but revenue beat forecasts at $861.76 million and rose 10% year over year.
• Institutional ownership remains high at 74.78%, and recent filings show several funds increased their stakes, including a large increase by Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the nine analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $43.80.

WTRG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Friday, May 22nd. UBS Group upped their target price on Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Argus raised shares of Essential Utilities to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Essential Utilities to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 4th.

Institutional Trading of Essential Utilities

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the 4th quarter valued at about $638,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in Essential Utilities by 7.8% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 12,861 shares of the company's stock worth $508,000 after purchasing an additional 928 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in Essential Utilities by 1.8% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 29,674 shares of the company's stock worth $1,173,000 after purchasing an additional 530 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Essential Utilities by 122.7% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 943,797 shares of the company's stock worth $37,308,000 after purchasing an additional 519,933 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth increased its holdings in Essential Utilities by 4.9% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 22,322 shares of the company's stock worth $882,000 after purchasing an additional 1,044 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company's stock.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of WTRG stock opened at $39.69 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.15 and a beta of 0.65. 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 business's 50-day moving average price is $37.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.78. Essential Utilities has a 12 month low of $36.10 and a 12 month high of $42.37.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). Essential Utilities had a net margin of 21.82% and a return on equity of 8.34%. The firm had revenue of $861.76 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $782.90 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.03 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Essential Utilities will post 2.21 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Company Profile

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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