Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) Updates FY 2025 Earnings Guidance

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) updated its FY 2025 earnings guidance on Monday. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 2.070-2.110 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 2.100. The company issued revenue guidance of -.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on WTRG shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com raised shares of Essential Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 20th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Essential Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $41.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.50.

Essential Utilities Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of WTRG stock opened at $40.74 on Monday. Essential Utilities has a 1 year low of $33.18 and a 1 year high of $41.78. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $39.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.23. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 27.84% and a return on equity of 7.89%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Essential Utilities will post 1.99 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.3255 per share. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.91%.

Institutional Trading of Essential Utilities

A hedge fund recently bought a new stake in Essential Utilities stock. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 17,563 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $638,000. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.