Essential Utilities, Inc. Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.33 (NYSE:WTRG)

Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, December 12th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of 0.3255 per share on Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th.

Essential Utilities has raised its dividend payment by an average of 7.0% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 32 years. Essential Utilities has a dividend payout ratio of 61.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Essential Utilities to earn $2.12 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.30 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 61.3%.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WTRG traded up $0.46 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $39.08. 1,254,458 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,511,574. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $39.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.91. The company has a market cap of $10.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.31, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.85. Essential Utilities has a 12-month low of $33.57 and a 12-month high of $41.78.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.01. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 27.84% and a return on equity of 7.89%. The firm had revenue of $435.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $416.95 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.30 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Essential Utilities will post 2.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $44.00 to $41.00 in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Essential Utilities in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.00.

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.