Weiss Ratings Reiterates Hold (C) Rating for Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG)

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG)‘s stock had its “hold (c)” rating reaffirmed by stock analysts at Weiss Ratings in a research note issued on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on WTRG. Wall Street Zen downgraded Essential Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Essential Utilities from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Zacks Research downgraded Essential Utilities from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 25th. Barclays started coverage on Essential Utilities in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $42.00 target price on the stock. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essential Utilities currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.00.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

Shares of WTRG opened at $40.46 on Wednesday. Essential Utilities has a 52 week low of $33.18 and a 52 week high of $41.65. The firm has a market cap of $11.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.36, a PEG ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $38.75 and a 200-day moving average of $38.58.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.09. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 27.62%.The business had revenue of $514.91 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $462.70 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.28 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Essential Utilities has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.070-2.110 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Essential Utilities will post 1.99 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Essential Utilities

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. SouthState Corp boosted its stake in Essential Utilities by 834.7% during the 2nd quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 701 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 626 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Essential Utilities during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in Essential Utilities in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. acquired a new position in Essential Utilities in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, National Pension Service raised its holdings in Essential Utilities by 75.0% in the 1st quarter. National Pension Service now owns 950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

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.