Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) Raises Dividend to $0.36 Per Share

Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, July 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be paid a dividend of 0.3606 per share on Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 11th. This is a 5.3% increase from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34.

Essential Utilities has raised its dividend by an average of 0.1%per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 32 consecutive years. Essential Utilities has a payout ratio of 61.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Essential Utilities to earn $2.42 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.37 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 56.6%.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WTRG opened at $40.66 on Thursday. Essential Utilities has a twelve month low of $36.10 and a twelve month high of $42.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.95. The business has a fifty day moving average of $38.08 and a 200-day moving average of $38.87. The firm has a market cap of $11.53 billion, a PE ratio of 20.64 and a beta of 0.65.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $861.76 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $782.90 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 8.34% and a net margin of 21.82%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Essential Utilities will post 2.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Company Profile

Essential Utilities, Inc, formerly known as Aqua America, is a publicly traded water and natural gas utility holding company. Through its regulated water and wastewater subsidiaries, the company provides essential water services to residential, commercial and industrial customers. In addition, Essential Utilities delivers natural gas distribution services in Pennsylvania through its Peoples Gas subsidiary, offering integrated utility solutions under a unified corporate framework.

The company traces its roots to the Philadelphia Suburban Water Company, founded in 1886 to serve growing communities outside Philadelphia.