Essential Utilities Inc. (WTRG) To Go Ex-Dividend on August 11th

Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, July 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be given a dividend of 0.3606 per share on Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 11th. This is a 5.3% increase from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34.

Essential Utilities has raised its dividend payment by an average of 0.1%per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 32 consecutive years. Essential Utilities has a payout ratio of 61.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Essential Utilities to earn $2.42 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.37 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 56.6%.

Essential Utilities Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:WTRG opened at $40.42 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $38.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.84. Essential Utilities has a one year low of $36.10 and a one year high of $42.37. The company has a market cap of $11.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.52 and a beta of 0.65.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.07). Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 8.34% and a net margin of 21.82%.The firm had revenue of $861.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $782.90 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities will post 2.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WTRG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Essential Utilities to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 4th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Essential Utilities from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essential Utilities currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.80.

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.