Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) Announces Dividend Increase – $0.36 Per Share

Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, July 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be given a dividend of 0.3606 per share on Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 11th. This is a 5.3% increase from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34.

Essential Utilities has increased its dividend payment by an average of 0.1%per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 32 years. Essential Utilities has a payout ratio of 61.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Essential Utilities to earn $2.42 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.37 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 56.6%.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WTRG opened at $40.66 on Thursday. Essential Utilities has a 52-week low of $36.10 and a 52-week high of $42.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.64 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $38.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.87.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $861.76 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $782.90 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 8.34% and a net margin of 21.82%.Essential Utilities’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Essential Utilities will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current year.

About Essential Utilities

Essential Utilities, Inc, formerly known as Aqua America, is a publicly traded water and natural gas utility holding company. Through its regulated water and wastewater subsidiaries, the company provides essential water services to residential, commercial and industrial customers. In addition, Essential Utilities delivers natural gas distribution services in Pennsylvania through its Peoples Gas subsidiary, offering integrated utility solutions under a unified corporate framework.

The company traces its roots to the Philadelphia Suburban Water Company, founded in 1886 to serve growing communities outside Philadelphia.