Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the eleven research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $43.2857.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WTRG. Wall Street Zen upgraded Essential Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $47.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 target price (down from $46.00) on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Zacks Research upgraded Essential Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Baird R W downgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th.

Essential Utilities Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of WTRG opened at $38.69 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.05 and a beta of 0.81. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $39.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.61. Essential Utilities has a twelve month low of $33.18 and a twelve month high of $42.37.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.06. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 28.09%.The business had revenue of $476.97 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $472.40 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.25 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Essential Utilities will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 12th were paid a dividend of $0.3426 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 12th. This represents a $1.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is 56.85%.

Institutional Trading of Essential Utilities

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. AIA Group Ltd purchased a new stake in Essential Utilities during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $305,000. Lindenwold Advisors INC boosted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 133.2% during the 3rd quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 17,405 shares of the company’s stock valued at $694,000 after buying an additional 9,943 shares during the last quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board grew its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 9.4% during the third quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 53,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,131,000 after buying an additional 4,600 shares in the last quarter. Severin Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the third quarter worth $449,000. Finally, Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd increased its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 6.5% in the third quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 104,933 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,187,000 after buying an additional 6,395 shares during the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.