Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) Announces Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.11 EPS

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) issued its earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.11, Zacks reports. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 24.91% and a return on equity of 9.25%. The firm had revenue of $699.11 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $611.60 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.67 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis.

Essential Utilities Trading Up 2.6%

Shares of Essential Utilities stock traded up $1.04 on Friday, hitting $40.82. The stock had a trading volume of 669,025 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,003,027. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.60. Essential Utilities has a twelve month low of $36.32 and a twelve month high of $42.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.46 and a beta of 0.81. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $38.74 and a 200 day moving average of $39.00.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be paid a $0.3426 dividend. This represents a $1.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 12th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.85%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essential Utilities

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WTRG. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ boosted its stake in Essential Utilities by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ now owns 83,188 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,191,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Essential Utilities by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,881 shares of the company’s stock valued at $460,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in Essential Utilities by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 13,313 shares of the company’s stock worth $494,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH boosted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 3,892 shares of the company’s stock worth $155,000 after buying an additional 466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, United Capital Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 4.9% in the third quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 10,708 shares of the company’s stock valued at $427,000 after acquiring an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Monday, December 29th. Northcoast Research raised Essential Utilities from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, Barclays set a $38.00 price target on Essential Utilities and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.67.

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.