Analysts Set Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) Price Target at $43.20

Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the nine analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation, one has issued a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $42.40.

A number of research analysts have commented on WTRG shares. UBS Group set a $41.00 price objective on shares of Essential Utilities in a research note on Thursday. Argus upgraded shares of Essential Utilities to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

Essential Utilities stock opened at $37.43 on Monday. Essential Utilities has a 52-week low of $36.32 and a 52-week high of $42.37. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $39.94 and a 200-day moving average of $39.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.00 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $861.76 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $782.90 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 21.82% and a return on equity of 8.34%. Essential Utilities’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Essential Utilities will post 2.25 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be given a $0.3426 dividend. This represents a $1.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 12th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.54%.

Institutional Trading of Essential Utilities

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. GoalVest Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Essential Utilities in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. American National Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Essential Utilities in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac bought a new stake in Essential Utilities in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Essential Utilities during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp increased its stake in Essential Utilities by 1,163.8% during the 3rd quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 733 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 675 shares during the period. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.