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

Key Points

• Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy”, with six analysts covering the stock, including five buy ratings and one hold.
• The company's latest earnings report showed a 0.38 EPS, exceeding consensus estimates and an 18.5% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• Essential Utilities recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.3426, which represents an annualized dividend yield of 3.6%, showing a positive change from its previous dividend.

Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) has earned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the six ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $43.6667.

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on WTRG shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Essential Utilities from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WTRG traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $38.30. The stock had a trading volume of 2,657,135 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,761,756. The company's 50-day moving average price is $37.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.94. The company has a market capitalization of $10.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 0.78. Essential Utilities has a fifty-two week low of $33.18 and a fifty-two week high of $41.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analysts' expectations of $462.70 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.28 EPS. The company's revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict 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 will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.3426 per share. This is a boost from Essential Utilities's previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 12th. Essential Utilities's payout ratio is currently 55.79%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WTRG. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Essential Utilities during the first quarter worth $31,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the first quarter valued at about $33,000. American National Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the first quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, National Pension Service raised its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 75.0% in the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 950 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.78% of the company's stock.

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.