Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) Cut to Sell at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report issued on Friday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on WTRG. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Zacks Research cut shares of Essential Utilities from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Thursday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $42.00 price objective for the company. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.00.

Essential Utilities Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of WTRG stock opened at $39.39 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.05 billion, a PE ratio of 16.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 0.82. Essential Utilities has a 52-week low of $33.18 and a 52-week high of $41.65. The business’s fifty day moving average is $38.46 and its 200 day moving average is $38.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.73.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.09. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 27.62%.The business had revenue of $514.91 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $462.70 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.28 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. Essential Utilities has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.070-2.110 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities will post 1.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th were paid a dividend of $0.3426 per share. This represents a $1.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. This is a boost from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 12th. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is currently 58.80%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essential Utilities

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Essential Utilities by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,407,634 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,129,340,000 after buying an additional 693,988 shares during the period. Amundi raised its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 2.7% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 5,637,022 shares of the company’s stock valued at $218,997,000 after acquiring an additional 146,960 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 3.8% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,734,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $175,313,000 after purchasing an additional 173,319 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 4.1% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,488,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $129,578,000 after purchasing an additional 136,270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Essential Utilities during the 2nd quarter valued at about $102,347,000. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.