Essential Utilities, Inc. Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.33 (NYSE:WTRG)

Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, October 30th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be given a dividend of 0.3255 per share on Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th.

Essential Utilities has raised its dividend payment by an average of 7.0% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 32 consecutive years. Essential Utilities has a payout ratio of 60.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Essential Utilities to earn $2.12 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.30 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 61.3%.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

NYSE WTRG opened at $38.60 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $10.56 billion, a PE ratio of 18.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.58. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $39.01 and a 200-day moving average of $38.52. Essential Utilities has a 52-week low of $33.00 and a 52-week high of $41.78.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.30 by ($0.02). Essential Utilities had a net margin of 28.74% and a return on equity of 8.16%. The company had revenue of $434.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $442.76 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.34 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities will post 1.99 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WTRG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Essential Utilities in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Monday, October 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $44.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.80.

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.