Essential Utilities (WTRG) to Release Quarterly Earnings on Thursday

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) will announce its earnings results after the market closes on Thursday, May 2nd. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of $0.75 per share for the quarter. Individual interested in listening to the company's earnings conference call can do so using this link.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 23rd. The company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.01. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 24.26% and a return on equity of 8.68%. The company had revenue of $479.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $708.50 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.44 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 32.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect Essential Utilities to post $2 EPS for the current fiscal year and $2 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:WTRG traded up $0.03 during trading on Thursday, reaching $36.57. The stock had a trading volume of 1,127,891 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,826,386. The firm's fifty day moving average is $35.74 and its 200 day moving average is $35.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.62. Essential Utilities has a 52 week low of $32.07 and a 52 week high of $43.84. The stock has a market cap of $10.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.82.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.3071 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This is a positive change from Essential Utilities's previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.23 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. Essential Utilities's dividend payout ratio is currently 66.13%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Robert A. Rubin sold 5,565 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.21, for a total value of $207,073.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 57,756 shares in the company, valued at $2,149,100.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $51.00 to $42.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $43.00.

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.