Essential Utilities Stock Price, News & Analysis (NYSE:WTRG)

5 Wall Street research analysts have issued "buy," "hold," and "sell" ratings for Essential Utilities in the last year. There are currently 5 buy ratings for the stock. The consensus among Wall Street research analysts is that investors should "buy" WTRG shares.
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5 Wall Street research analysts have issued 12-month price objectives for Essential Utilities' shares. Their WTRG share price targets range from $42.00 to $54.00. On average, they expect the company's stock price to reach $48.25 in the next year. This suggests a possible upside of 34.7% from the stock's current price.
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Essential Utilities' stock was trading at $47.73 at the beginning of 2023. Since then, WTRG stock has decreased by 24.9% and is now trading at $35.83.
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Essential Utilities saw a increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totaling 5,410,000 shares, an increase of 37.3% from the October 31st total of 3,940,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,460,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.7 days.
View Essential Utilities' Short Interest.

The company is scheduled to release its next quarterly earnings announcement on Monday, February 26th 2024.
View our WTRG earnings forecast.

Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November, 6th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.01. The company earned $411.26 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $455.20 million. Essential Utilities had a trailing twelve-month return on equity of 8.52% and a net margin of 20.95%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.26 earnings per share.

Essential Utilities announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.3071 per share on Friday, December 1st. This represents a $1.23 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 9th.
Read our dividend analysis for WTRG.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) pays an annual dividend of $1.22 per share and currently has a dividend yield of 3.41%. The company has been increasing its dividend for 31 consecutive years, indicating the company has a strong committment to maintain and grow its dividend. The dividend payout ratio is 67.78%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%. Based on earnings estimates, WTRG will have a dividend payout ratio of 61.00% next year. This indicates that the company will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.
Read our dividend analysis for WTRG.

ETFs with the largest weight of Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) stock in their portfolio include Global X Clean Water ETF (AQWA), Invesco S&P Global Water Index ETF (CGW), iShares Environmental Infrastructure and Industrials ETF (EFRA), Ecofin Global Water ESG Fund (EBLU), First Trust Water ETF (FIW), Invesco Water Resources ETF (PHO), Invesco Real Assets ESG ETF (IVRA) and ProShares S&P MidCap 400 Dividend Aristocrats ETF (REGL).

Essential Utilities updated its FY 2023 earnings guidance on Monday, November, 6th. The company provided EPS guidance of $1.85-$1.90 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of $1.86. The company issued revenue guidance of -.

Essential Utilities' stock is owned by many different retail and institutional investors. Top institutional investors include Invesco Ltd. (1.50%), Northern Trust Corp (1.24%), Legal & General Group Plc (1.07%), Bank of New York Mellon Corp (0.99%), Morgan Stanley (0.81%) and Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. (0.74%). Insiders that own company stock include Chris Franklin, Colleen Arnold, Daniel Schuller, Ellen T Ruff and Robert A Rubin.
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Shares of WTRG stock can be purchased through any online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages with access to the U.S. stock market include WeBull, Vanguard Brokerage Services, TD Ameritrade, E*TRADE, Robinhood, Fidelity, and Charles Schwab.
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