Brokerages Set Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) Target Price at $43.29

Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the ten ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $43.2857.

WTRG has been the topic of several research reports. Robert W. Baird cut shares of Essential Utilities from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Northcoast Research raised Essential Utilities from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Essential Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 11th.

Essential Utilities Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of WTRG stock opened at $39.36 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $38.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.85. Essential Utilities has a 52 week low of $33.88 and a 52 week high of $42.37. The stock has a market cap of $11.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.33 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.06. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 28.09% and a return on equity of 10.20%. The business had revenue of $476.97 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $472.40 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.25 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Essential Utilities will post 1.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.3426 per share. This represents a $1.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 9th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.85%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WTRG. Apella Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 8,346 shares of the company’s stock worth $345,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC boosted its stake in Essential Utilities by 1.4% during the second quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 18,930 shares of the company’s stock worth $703,000 after buying an additional 267 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 0.3% during the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 104,188 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,157,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 13,036 shares of the company’s stock valued at $520,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares during the period. Finally, Belpointe Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 17,275 shares of the company’s stock worth $689,000 after acquiring an additional 291 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities Company Profile

Essential Utilities, Inc, formerly known as Aqua America, is a publicly traded water and natural gas utility holding company. Through its regulated water and wastewater subsidiaries, the company provides essential water services to residential, commercial and industrial customers. In addition, Essential Utilities delivers natural gas distribution services in Pennsylvania through its Peoples Gas subsidiary, offering integrated utility solutions under a unified corporate framework.

The company traces its roots to the Philadelphia Suburban Water Company, founded in 1886 to serve growing communities outside Philadelphia.