Wall Street Zen Upgrades Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) to “Hold”

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Saturday.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on WTRG. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Essential Utilities from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 25th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.17.

Essential Utilities Stock Up 0.5%

Essential Utilities stock opened at $40.69 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $38.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.60. Essential Utilities has a twelve month low of $33.18 and a twelve month high of $41.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.46, a PEG ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last released its quarterly 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.28 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Essential Utilities has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.070-2.110 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Essential Utilities will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Essential Utilities

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Flputnam Investment Management Co. lifted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 14.3% in the 3rd quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 514,296 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,520,000 after purchasing an additional 64,338 shares in the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 41.7% during the third quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 48,847 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,896,000 after buying an additional 14,384 shares in the last quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp raised its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 15.9% in the third quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 127,799 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,099,000 after buying an additional 17,504 shares during the last quarter. Whalen Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the third quarter valued at approximately $290,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 40.2% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 215,240 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,588,000 after buying an additional 61,690 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

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.