Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $43.00.

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on WTRG shares. Barclays increased their target price on Essential Utilities from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Essential Utilities to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 4th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

Essential Utilities stock opened at $41.73 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The company has a market capitalization of $11.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.29, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.64. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $39.84 and its 200 day moving average is $39.20. Essential Utilities has a twelve month low of $36.10 and a twelve month high of $42.37.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $530.85 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.90 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 8.23% and a net margin of 21.60%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.38 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Essential Utilities will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.3606 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. This is a boost from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 11th. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is 73.47%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Colleen Arnold sold 2,855 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.55, for a total transaction of $112,915.25. Following the sale, the insider owned 17,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $686,073.85. This trade represents a 14.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essential Utilities

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WTRG. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the second quarter worth $1,280,829,000. State Street Corp raised its position in Essential Utilities by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,833,175 shares of the company’s stock worth $530,641,000 after acquiring an additional 241,176 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 3,456.6% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 11,969,002 shares of the company’s stock worth $458,532,000 after acquiring an additional 11,632,469 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 33.4% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 6,335,695 shares of the company’s stock valued at $243,023,000 after acquiring an additional 1,586,622 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Essential Utilities by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,233,715 shares of the company’s stock valued at $200,197,000 after purchasing an additional 120,947 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

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.