Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.11 EPS

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.11, Zacks reports. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 28.09%.During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.67 earnings per share. Essential Utilities’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

Shares of Essential Utilities stock traded up $0.13 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $39.89. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,379,866 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,045,380. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $38.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.99. Essential Utilities has a 12-month low of $35.96 and a 12-month high of $42.37. The company has a market capitalization of $11.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.55 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be issued a $0.3426 dividend. This represents a $1.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 12th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.85%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essential Utilities

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter valued at about $638,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in Essential Utilities by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 12,861 shares of the company’s stock valued at $508,000 after purchasing an additional 928 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Essential Utilities by 1.8% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 29,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,173,000 after purchasing an additional 530 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Essential Utilities by 122.7% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 943,797 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,308,000 after purchasing an additional 519,933 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth grew its holdings in Essential Utilities by 4.9% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 22,322 shares of the company’s stock valued at $882,000 after purchasing an additional 1,044 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WTRG has been the topic of several research reports. Northcoast Research raised Essential Utilities from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Barclays set a $38.00 price objective on shares of Essential Utilities and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 price target (down from $46.00) on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Essential Utilities currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.29.

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.