Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $43.50.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $41.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th.

Institutional Trading of Essential Utilities

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 51,881 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,001,000 after acquiring an additional 803 shares during the period. Synergy Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 92.8% in the fourth quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 148,009 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,529,000 after purchasing an additional 71,222 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 6,811,851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $247,134,000 after purchasing an additional 972,803 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 5.6% in the third 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 during the period. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter valued at about $638,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities Trading Down 2.1 %

NYSE WTRG opened at $39.72 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $36.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.82. The company has a market capitalization of $10.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.79. Essential Utilities has a 12 month low of $33.18 and a 12 month high of $41.78.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $604.38 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $698.77 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 27.84% and a return on equity of 7.89%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Essential Utilities will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be paid a $0.3255 dividend. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.91%.

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.