Brokerages Set Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) Price Target at $43.00

Shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) have earned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the four ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $43.00.

Separately, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Essential Utilities from $51.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 4th.

Insider Transactions at Essential Utilities

In other news, CAO Robert A. Rubin sold 5,565 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.21, for a total transaction of $207,073.65. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 57,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,149,100.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essential Utilities

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 14.2% during the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 235,841 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,096,000 after buying an additional 29,372 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 94.0% during the third quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 81,799 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,808,000 after buying an additional 39,643 shares during the last quarter. Mariner LLC grew its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 9.9% during the third quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 34,360 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,180,000 after buying an additional 3,104 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 0.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,168,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $932,698,000 after purchasing an additional 99,560 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter valued at $3,583,000. 74.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

NYSE WTRG opened at $36.57 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $35.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.66, a PEG ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.48. Essential Utilities has a 1-year low of $32.07 and a 1-year high of $43.84.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $479.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $708.50 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 8.68% and a net margin of 24.26%. The company’s revenue was down 32.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.44 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Essential Utilities will post 2 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a dividend of $0.3071 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This is an increase from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.23 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.36%. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.13%.

Essential Utilities Company Profile

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.