Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) Rating Lowered to "Sell" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Essential Utilities has been downgraded from a "hold" to a "sell" rating by Wall Street Zen, signaling a shift in analyst sentiment.
• Despite the downgrade, other analysts, such as UBS Group and Robert W. Baird, maintain a "buy" and "outperform" rating, with price targets recently increased to $47.00.
• The company reported strong quarterly earnings, surpassing expectations with $0.38 per share, compared to analyst estimates of $0.29.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. UBS Group raised their price objective on Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Essential Utilities from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $44.50.

Essential Utilities Trading Up 1.0%

NYSE:WTRG opened at $39.5940 on Friday. 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 has a 1-year low of $33.18 and a 1-year high of $41.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.30.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essential Utilities

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings 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 valued at $1,129,340,000 after buying an additional 693,988 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 5,637,022 shares of the company's stock valued at $218,997,000 after buying an additional 146,960 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,734,532 shares of the company's stock valued at $175,313,000 after buying an additional 173,319 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,488,920 shares of the company's stock valued at $129,578,000 after buying an additional 136,270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 22.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,331,090 shares of the company's stock valued at $120,985,000 after buying an additional 601,026 shares during the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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