Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) Given Average Rating of “Buy” by Brokerages

Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Buy” by the six analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $44.40.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WTRG opened at $38.99 on Monday. Essential Utilities has a 1 year low of $32.07 and a 1 year high of $41.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The company’s 50-day moving average is $39.25 and its 200 day moving average is $37.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.48, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.83.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.30 by ($0.02). Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 8.16% and a net margin of 28.74%. The business had revenue of $434.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $442.76 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.34 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Essential Utilities will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.3255 per share. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.34%. This is a boost from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 12th. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is presently 61.61%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Robert A. Rubin sold 2,342 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.43, for a total transaction of $87,661.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 53,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,998,425.13. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Essential Utilities

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WTRG. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Essential Utilities by 17,553.7% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,425,350 shares of the company’s stock valued at $126,156,000 after buying an additional 3,405,947 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $97,288,000. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the first quarter worth $46,280,000. UBS Group AG increased its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 271.9% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,225,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,785,000 after purchasing an additional 896,223 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,992,080 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,045,504,000 after purchasing an additional 823,495 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, 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.