Jefferies Financial Group Downgrades Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) to Hold

Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has $41.00 price objective on the stock, down from their previous price objective of $44.00.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on WTRG. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Essential Utilities in a research note on Friday, September 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.00.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

NYSE:WTRG opened at $39.67 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The stock has a market cap of $10.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.84, a PEG ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $39.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.70. Essential Utilities has a one year low of $33.28 and a one year high of $41.78.

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

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be paid a $0.3255 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.28%. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essential Utilities

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Essential Utilities by 0.4% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,754,099 shares of the company’s stock valued at $102,811,000 after buying an additional 9,822 shares in the last quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,034,497 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,471,000 after acquiring an additional 10,560 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its position in Essential Utilities by 117.3% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,962,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,701,000 after acquiring an additional 1,059,320 shares during the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in Essential Utilities by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,585,475 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,152,000 after purchasing an additional 84,596 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Essential Utilities by 18.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,500,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,002,000 after purchasing an additional 234,857 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.