Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) Receives $42.40 Consensus PT from Analysts

Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the nine research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation, two have assigned a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $42.80.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WTRG. Argus raised shares of Essential Utilities to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Essential Utilities from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $41.00 to $43.00 in a report on Friday.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WTRG opened at $37.06 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $38.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.97. Essential Utilities has a 1 year low of $36.10 and a 1 year high of $42.37. The company has a market capitalization of $10.51 billion, a PE ratio of 18.81 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.95.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.07). Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 8.34% and a net margin of 21.82%.The firm had revenue of $861.76 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $782.90 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Essential Utilities will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essential Utilities

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WTRG. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter valued at $638,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 7.8% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 12,861 shares of the company’s stock valued at $508,000 after purchasing an additional 928 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 1.8% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 29,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,173,000 after purchasing an additional 530 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 122.7% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 943,797 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,308,000 after purchasing an additional 519,933 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth lifted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 4.9% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 22,322 shares of the company’s stock valued at $882,000 after purchasing an additional 1,044 shares in the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.