Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) Releases FY 2025 Earnings Guidance

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) issued an update on its FY 2025 earnings guidance on Monday morning. The company provided EPS guidance of 2.070-2.110 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of 2.100. The company issued revenue guidance of -.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

NYSE WTRG opened at $40.74 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.37, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.85. Essential Utilities has a twelve month low of $33.18 and a twelve month high of $41.78. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.23. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 27.84% and a return on equity of 7.89%. Sell-side analysts expect that Essential Utilities will post 1.99 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be paid a $0.3255 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is presently 59.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WTRG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com raised shares of Essential Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Essential Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $41.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.50.

Institutional Trading of Essential Utilities

An institutional investor recently bought a new position in Essential Utilities stock. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 17,563 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $638,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

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.