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

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) updated its FY 2025 earnings guidance on Tuesday. The company provided earnings per share guidance of 2.070-2.110 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of 2.120. The company issued revenue guidance of -.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Janney Montgomery Scott lowered Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Zacks Research upgraded Essential Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Essential Utilities from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Essential Utilities has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $44.57.

Essential Utilities Trading Up 0.8%

Essential Utilities stock traded up $0.31 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $38.39. The stock had a trading volume of 2,900,111 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,823,009. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market cap of $10.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.48, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.82. Essential Utilities has a one year low of $33.18 and a one year high of $42.37. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.75.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.06. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 27.62%. Essential Utilities has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.070-2.110 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Essential Utilities will post 1.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th will be paid a $0.3426 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 12th. This represents a $1.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.80%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essential Utilities

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Essential Utilities by 168.3% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,747 shares of the company’s stock valued at $102,000 after acquiring an additional 1,723 shares during the period. Modern Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Essential Utilities in the second quarter valued at approximately $234,000. Glenview Trust co grew its stake in Essential Utilities by 29.4% in the second quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 6,978 shares of the company’s stock valued at $259,000 after acquiring an additional 1,586 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its stake in Essential Utilities by 34.4% in the second quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 10,807 shares of the company’s stock valued at $401,000 after acquiring an additional 2,766 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. grew its stake in Essential Utilities by 5.6% in the second quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 12,693 shares of the company’s stock valued at $471,000 after acquiring an additional 676 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.