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

Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the eight analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $45.1667.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WTRG. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Essential Utilities from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, October 11th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essential Utilities

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. SouthState Corp grew its position 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 last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, National Pension Service grew its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 75.0% during the 1st quarter. National Pension Service now owns 950 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company's stock.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of WTRG stock opened at $40.68 on Thursday. The company's fifty day moving average price is $38.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.46, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.82. Essential Utilities has a 12 month low of $33.18 and a 12 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.

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

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.3426 per share. 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 3.4%. This is a boost from Essential Utilities's previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. Essential Utilities's payout ratio is currently 58.80%.

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.

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