Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.01 EPS

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.01, Zacks reports. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 7.89% and a net margin of 27.84%. Essential Utilities updated its FY 2025 guidance to 2.070-2.110 EPS.

Essential Utilities Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE:WTRG traded down $0.47 on Wednesday, hitting $37.54. The stock had a trading volume of 2,420,478 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,494,645. The stock has a market cap of $10.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.77, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.87. Essential Utilities has a 1-year low of $33.18 and a 1-year high of $41.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $35.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.86.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.3255 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.47%. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on WTRG shares. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Essential Utilities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $43.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $41.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Essential Utilities presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.00.

Essential Utilities Company Profile

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.