Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) Receives $44.57 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $44.5714.

WTRG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Northcoast Research set a $46.00 price objective on Essential Utilities in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a research report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $44.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essential Utilities

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WTRG. SouthState Corp increased its stake in Essential Utilities by 834.7% in the second quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 701 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 626 shares during the last quarter. American National Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp raised 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 worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Essential Utilities during the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in Essential Utilities in the second quarter valued at $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of WTRG stock opened at $39.68 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $39.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.23 billion, a PE ratio of 17.03, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. Essential Utilities has a 52 week low of $33.18 and a 52 week high of $42.37.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.06. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 27.62%.The business had revenue of $476.97 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $472.40 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.25 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Essential Utilities will post 1.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th will be given a dividend of $0.3426 per share. This represents a $1.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 12th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.85%.

About Essential Utilities

Essential Utilities, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates regulated utilities that provide water, wastewater, or natural gas services in the United States. The company operates through Regulated Water and Regulated Natural Gas segments. It offers water services through operating and maintenance contract with municipal authorities and other parties.