By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
Shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG – Get Free Report) rose 5% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $35.10 and last traded at $35.17. Approximately 784,378 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 46% from the average daily volume of 1,459,046 shares. The stock had previously closed at $33.49.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
WTRG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $44.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group lowered their target price 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Essential Utilities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $43.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.00.
Get Our Latest Research Report on WTRG
Essential Utilities Trading Up 5.9 %
The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.60. The firm has a market cap of $9.74 billion, a PE ratio of 17.73, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.39.
Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $435.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $416.95 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 27.84% and a return on equity of 7.89%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.30 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current year.
Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $0.3255 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.67%. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is 65.00%.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essential Utilities
Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Essential Utilities by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 95,426 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,562,000 after purchasing an additional 3,987 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 18.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,500,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,002,000 after buying an additional 234,857 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 44.1% during the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 34,080 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,272,000 after buying an additional 10,437 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 60.5% during the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 49,763 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,858,000 after buying an additional 18,765 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new stake in Essential Utilities in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,016,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.78% of the company’s stock.
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.
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