Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday. The company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.01, Briefing.com reports. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 27.84% and a return on equity of 7.94%. The company had revenue of $435.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $416.95 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.30 EPS. Essential Utilities’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

Shares of Essential Utilities stock opened at $40.35 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The company has a market cap of $11.04 billion, a PE ratio of 20.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $39.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.67. Essential Utilities has a fifty-two week low of $33.28 and a fifty-two week high of $41.78.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be given a dividend of $0.3255 per share. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 12th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Essential Utilities in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Monday, October 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $44.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.60.

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.