Essential Utilities (WTRG) Stock Price, News & Analysis

4 Wall Street research analysts have issued "buy," "hold," and "sell" ratings for Essential Utilities in the last year. There are currently 4 buy ratings for the stock. The consensus among Wall Street research analysts is that investors should "buy" WTRG shares.
View WTRG analyst ratings or view top-rated stocks.

4 Wall Street analysts have issued twelve-month target prices for Essential Utilities' shares. Their WTRG share price targets range from $42.00 to $45.00. On average, they anticipate the company's share price to reach $43.00 in the next twelve months. This suggests a possible upside of 20.9% from the stock's current price.
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Essential Utilities' stock was trading at $37.35 at the beginning of the year. Since then, WTRG stock has decreased by 4.8% and is now trading at $35.56.
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The company is scheduled to release its next quarterly earnings announcement on Thursday, May 2nd 2024.
View our WTRG earnings forecast.

Essential Utilities will be holding an earnings conference call on Friday, May 3rd at 11:00 AM Eastern. Interested parties can register for or listen to the call using this link or dial in at 866-583-1035 with passcode "4938576".

Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February, 23rd. The company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $479.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $708.50 million. Essential Utilities had a trailing twelve-month return on equity of 8.68% and a net margin of 24.26%. Essential Utilities's revenue was down 32.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.44 earnings per share.

Essential Utilities declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.3071 per share on Saturday, June 1st. This represents a $1.23 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This is a boost from the stock's previous quarterly dividend of $0.31.
Read our dividend analysis for WTRG.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) pays an annual dividend of $1.23 per share and currently has a dividend yield of 3.56%. The company has been increasing its dividend for 31 consecutive years, indicating the company has a strong committment to maintain and grow its dividend. The dividend payout ratio is 66.13%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%. Based on earnings estimates, WTRG will have a dividend payout ratio of 58.29% next year. This indicates that the company will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.
Read our dividend analysis for WTRG.

ETFs with the largest weight of Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) stock in their portfolio include iShares Environmental Infrastructure and Industrials ETF (EFRA), Global X Clean Water ETF (AQWA), Invesco Real Assets ESG ETF (IVRA), First Trust Water ETF (FIW), Invesco Water Resources ETF (PHO), Invesco S&P Global Water Index ETF (CGW), Ecofin Global Water ESG Fund (EBLU) and ProShares S&P MidCap 400 Dividend Aristocrats ETF (REGL).

Essential Utilities updated its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Thursday, February, 22nd. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 1.960-2.000 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of 2.010. The company issued revenue guidance of -.

Essential Utilities' stock is owned by many different retail and institutional investors. Top institutional shareholders include Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. (0.20%), Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. (0.07%), Hennessy Advisors Inc. (0.06%), Coston McIsaac & Partners (0.04%), State of Michigan Retirement System (0.02%) and Radnor Capital Management LLC (0.02%). Insiders that own company stock include Chris Franklin, Colleen Arnold, Daniel Schuller, Ellen T Ruff and Robert A Rubin.
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Shares of WTRG stock can be purchased through any online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages with access to the U.S. stock market include Charles Schwab, E*TRADE, Fidelity, and Vanguard Brokerage Services.
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