Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) Price Target Raised to $45.00

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) had its price target hoisted by Evercore ISI from $42.00 to $45.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $44.40.

Essential Utilities Trading Down 1.2 %

WTRG opened at $39.51 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market cap of $10.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.73, a PEG ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.83. Essential Utilities has a 12 month low of $32.07 and a 12 month high of $41.78. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $38.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.21.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.02). Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 8.16% and a net margin of 28.74%. The firm had revenue of $434.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $442.76 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.34 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.3255 per share. This is an increase from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.30%. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is 58.29%.

Insider Activity at Essential Utilities

In other Essential Utilities news, CAO Robert A. Rubin sold 2,342 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.43, for a total transaction of $87,661.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 53,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,998,425.13. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WTRG. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Essential Utilities by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,992,080 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,045,504,000 after purchasing an additional 823,495 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 17,553.7% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,425,350 shares of the company’s stock worth $126,156,000 after buying an additional 3,405,947 shares during the last quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. grew its holdings in Essential Utilities by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 3,069,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,641,000 after acquiring an additional 313,277 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Essential Utilities by 0.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 9,822 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $97,288,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.