Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) Receives $44.00 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $44.00.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WTRG. Northcoast Research raised Essential Utilities from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 price objective (down from $46.00) on shares of Essential Utilities in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a research report on Monday. Baird R W lowered shares of Essential Utilities from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Essential Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essential Utilities

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Severin Investments LLC purchased a new position in Essential Utilities during the third quarter valued at $449,000. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd increased its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 104,933 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,187,000 after acquiring an additional 6,395 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in Essential Utilities by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 21,122 shares of the company’s stock valued at $843,000 after acquiring an additional 758 shares during the period. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new position in Essential Utilities during the 3rd quarter valued at about $401,000. Finally, Caerus Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Essential Utilities during the third quarter worth about $203,000. 74.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WTRG opened at $37.22 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $39.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.60. The company has a market cap of $10.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.44 and a beta of 0.81. Essential Utilities has a 12 month low of $33.18 and a 12 month high of $42.37.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $476.97 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $472.40 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 28.09%.Essential Utilities’s revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.25 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities will post 1.99 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th were given a $0.3426 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 12th. This represents a $1.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.85%.

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.