Q2 EPS Estimate for Essential Utilities Lowered by Analyst

Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) – Equities research analysts at Zacks Research cut their Q2 2025 earnings estimates for shares of Essential Utilities in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, November 25th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now anticipates that the company will post earnings per share of $0.35 for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $0.38. The consensus estimate for Essential Utilities’ current full-year earnings is $2.01 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Essential Utilities’ Q4 2025 earnings at $0.63 EPS and Q3 2026 earnings at $0.37 EPS.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.01. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 7.89% and a net margin of 27.84%. The company had revenue of $435.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $416.95 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis.

WTRG has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $44.00 to $41.00 in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Essential Utilities in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of 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 lowered their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.00.

Essential Utilities Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of WTRG opened at $40.28 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $39.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.88. The company has a market cap of $11.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.14, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. Essential Utilities has a twelve month low of $33.57 and a twelve month high of $41.78.

Institutional Trading of Essential Utilities

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WTRG. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Essential Utilities by 12.1% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 139,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,171,000 after acquiring an additional 15,009 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 350.3% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 903,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,723,000 after purchasing an additional 702,760 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 881,658 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,912,000 after purchasing an additional 21,804 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 18.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,500,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,002,000 after purchasing an additional 234,857 shares during the period. Finally, M&G Plc purchased a new stake in Essential Utilities during the second quarter worth $482,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be issued a $0.3255 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.23%. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.00%.

About Essential Utilities

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.