Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $42.37 and last traded at $41.65, with a volume of 1637529 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $41.69.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Essential Utilities from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Zacks Research raised Essential Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Essential Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.17.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $39.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.69. The stock has a market cap of $11.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $514.91 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $462.70 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 27.62%.Essential Utilities’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.28 earnings per share. Essential Utilities has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.070-2.110 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.3426 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 12th. This is a positive change from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.80%.

Institutional Trading of Essential Utilities

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Essential Utilities by 2.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,407,634 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,129,340,000 after purchasing an additional 693,988 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its position in Essential Utilities by 2.7% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 5,637,022 shares of the company’s stock worth $218,997,000 after purchasing an additional 146,960 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Essential Utilities by 3.8% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,734,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $175,313,000 after purchasing an additional 173,319 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in Essential Utilities by 4.1% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,488,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $129,578,000 after purchasing an additional 136,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Essential Utilities during the second quarter worth $102,347,000. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.