Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) Stock Gets Price Target Reduction from UBS Group

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) had its price objective trimmed by UBS Group from $49.00 to $47.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Several other research firms also recently commented on WTRG. Weiss Ratings raised Essential Utilities from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Essential Utilities to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, July 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.25.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WTRG opened at $40.84 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.78. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $40.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.59 billion, a PE ratio of 20.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.63. Essential Utilities has a 52 week low of $36.10 and a 52 week high of $42.51.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.01. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 8.23% and a net margin of 21.60%. The firm had revenue of $530.85 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $538.90 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.38 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Essential Utilities will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th were paid a $0.3606 dividend. This is a positive change from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.3426. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 11th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.47%.

Insider Transactions at Essential Utilities

In other news, insider Colleen Arnold sold 2,855 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.55, for a total value of $112,915.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 17,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $686,073.85. This trade represents a 14.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,280,829,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $134,247,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 1,224.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,233,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $126,728,000 after acquiring an additional 2,989,455 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Essential Utilities in the second quarter valued at approximately $92,467,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in Essential Utilities by 1,499.9% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,282,008 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,626,000 after acquiring an additional 1,201,879 shares during the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essential Utilities Company Profile

Essential Utilities, Inc is a regulated utility company that provides essential water, wastewater and natural gas services to residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers. Its water operations include the treatment, distribution and supply of drinking water, while its wastewater business manages the collection and treatment of sewage. The company also distributes natural gas through regulated utility operations.

The company serves customers across several U.S. states, including Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Texas, North Carolina, New Jersey, Indiana, Virginia, Georgia and West Virginia.