Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) Issues FY 2024 Earnings Guidance

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) updated its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Monday. The company provided EPS guidance of 1.960-2.000 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of 2.030. The company issued revenue guidance of -. Essential Utilities also updated its FY 2025 guidance to 2.070-2.110 EPS.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $44.00 to $41.00 in a report on Thursday. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Friday, September 20th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.00.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WTRG traded down $1.17 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $39.18. The stock had a trading volume of 1,374,462 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,532,467. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $39.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.67. The company has a market capitalization of $10.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.84. Essential Utilities has a fifty-two week low of $33.28 and a fifty-two week high of $41.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.01. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 27.84% and a return on equity of 7.94%. The firm had revenue of $435.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $416.95 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Essential Utilities will post 1.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be issued a $0.3255 dividend. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 12th. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is 65.00%.

About Essential Utilities

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.