Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) released its earnings results on Monday. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.02), Briefing.com reports. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 29.52% and a return on equity of 8.62%. The company had revenue of $434.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $442.76 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.34 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year.

Essential Utilities Trading Down 2.7 %

Shares of WTRG stock opened at $39.45 on Wednesday. Essential Utilities has a 1 year low of $32.07 and a 1 year high of $41.78. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $38.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.70, a PEG ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 0.83.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th will be paid a $0.3255 dividend. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.30%. This is a positive change from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 12th. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is currently 61.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on WTRG shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Essential Utilities from $44.00 to $43.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Essential Utilities currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.40.

Insider Transactions at Essential Utilities

In other Essential Utilities news, CAO Robert A. Rubin sold 2,342 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.43, for a total value of $87,661.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 53,391 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,998,425.13. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.21% 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.