Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.05 EPS

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) posted its earnings results on Tuesday. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.05, Zacks reports. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 21.60% and a return on equity of 8.23%.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

NYSE:WTRG traded down $0.35 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $44.09. 3,227,845 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,264,637. The company has a market cap of $12.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.63. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $40.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.45. Essential Utilities has a 52-week low of $36.10 and a 52-week high of $44.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.3606 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 10th. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is 73.47%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WTRG. UBS Group lowered their price target on Essential Utilities from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Barclays increased their target price on Essential Utilities from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Essential Utilities from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Essential Utilities currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Colleen Arnold sold 2,855 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.55, for a total transaction of $112,915.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 17,347 shares in the company, valued at approximately $686,073.85. The trade was a 14.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Essential Utilities Company Profile

Essential Utilities, Inc is a regulated utility company that provides water, wastewater and natural gas services to residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers. Through its Aqua and Peoples operations, the company owns and operates water and wastewater systems, natural gas distribution networks and related infrastructure. Its services include the treatment and delivery of drinking water, collection and treatment of wastewater, and the distribution of natural gas.

The company serves customers across several U.S.