Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.01 EPS

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.01, Zacks reports. The firm had revenue of $530.85 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $538.90 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 21.60% and a return on equity of 8.28%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS.

Essential Utilities Stock Up 0.2%

NYSE:WTRG opened at $39.63 on Thursday. Essential Utilities has a 1 year low of $36.10 and a 1 year high of $42.37. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $38.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.88. The stock has a market cap of $11.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.22 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be paid a $0.3606 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 11th. This is a positive change from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is presently 73.47%.

Institutional Trading of Essential Utilities

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter worth $51,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 168.3% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,747 shares of the company’s stock worth $102,000 after acquiring an additional 1,723 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in Essential Utilities by 47.7% in the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $148,000 after acquiring an additional 1,199 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH lifted its position in Essential Utilities by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 3,892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $155,000 after acquiring an additional 466 shares in the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Barclays upped their target price on Essential Utilities from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Essential Utilities to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.00.

About Essential Utilities

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.