Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) Receives $43.50 Consensus PT from Analysts

Shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the six analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $43.50.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WTRG. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Essential Utilities from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, April 20th.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

NYSE:WTRG traded down $0.25 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $37.29. The stock had a trading volume of 1,401,945 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,554,178. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $38.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.71. Essential Utilities has a 52 week low of $33.18 and a 52 week high of $41.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 12th. The company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $783.63 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $713.80 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 27.17% and a return on equity of 9.81%. The business's revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.97 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Essential Utilities will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter worth approximately $638,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 38,652 shares of the company's stock worth $1,404,000 after purchasing an additional 356 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,071,868 shares of the company's stock worth $75,250,000 after purchasing an additional 199,936 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,621,000. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 75,514 shares of the company's stock worth $2,743,000 after purchasing an additional 1,068 shares during the period. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.