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

Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $43.00.

Several analysts have recently commented on WTRG shares. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut Essential Utilities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $43.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $44.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

NYSE:WTRG opened at $35.07 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.55. Essential Utilities has a fifty-two week low of $33.18 and a fifty-two week high of $41.78. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.68. The company has a market capitalization of $9.63 billion, a PE ratio of 17.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.86.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $435.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $416.95 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 7.89% and a net margin of 27.84%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.30 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a dividend of $0.3255 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.71%. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is 65.00%.

Institutional Trading of Essential Utilities

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in Essential Utilities in the third quarter worth $26,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Essential Utilities in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 61.4% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 773 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the 3rd quarter worth $42,000. 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.