Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) Hits New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) hit a new 52-week high on Friday. The stock traded as high as $43.97 and last traded at $43.6610, with a volume of 235,403 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.78.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group decreased their target price on Essential Utilities from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Essential Utilities to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Essential Utilities from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.00.

Essential Utilities Stock Up 2.1%

The stock has a market capitalization of $12.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.26, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.78. The business has a 50-day moving average of $40.69 and a 200-day moving average of $39.41.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $530.85 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $538.90 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 21.60% and a return on equity of 8.23%. The company’s revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.38 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.21 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 10th will be given a dividend of $0.3606 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 10th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essential Utilities

In related news, insider Colleen Arnold sold 2,855 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.55, for a total value of $112,915.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 17,347 shares in the company, valued at approximately $686,073.85. The trade was a 14.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Essential Utilities

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Essential Utilities during the second quarter worth $1,280,829,000. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 5.5% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,119,170 shares of the company’s stock worth $502,595,000 after purchasing an additional 687,688 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the 2nd quarter valued at $134,247,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 1,224.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,233,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $126,728,000 after acquiring an additional 2,989,455 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 3.8% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,881,490 shares of the company’s stock worth $116,049,000 after buying an additional 106,252 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities Company Profile

Essential Utilities, Inc is a regulated utility company that provides water, wastewater and natural gas services to residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers. Through its Aqua and Peoples operations, the company owns and operates water and wastewater systems, natural gas distribution networks and related infrastructure. Its services include the treatment and delivery of drinking water, collection and treatment of wastewater, and the distribution of natural gas.

The company serves customers across several U.S.