Essential Utilities, Inc. (WTRG) To Go Ex-Dividend on February 10th

Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, December 12th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of 0.3255 per share on Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th.

Essential Utilities has increased its dividend by an average of 7.0% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 32 consecutive years. Essential Utilities has a dividend payout ratio of 61.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Essential Utilities to earn $2.12 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.30 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 61.3%.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

WTRG opened at $38.70 on Friday. Essential Utilities has a twelve month low of $33.57 and a twelve month high of $41.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.63 billion, a PE ratio of 19.35, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $39.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.92.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.01. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 7.89% and a net margin of 27.84%. The business had revenue of $435.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $416.95 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.30 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Essential Utilities will post 2.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $44.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.00.

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.