Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) Stock Rated “Moderate Buy” by Wall Street Brokerages

Shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $43.00.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WTRG. Weiss Ratings upgraded Essential Utilities from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Barclays increased their price objective on Essential Utilities from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen raised Essential Utilities to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, July 4th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 16th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Essential Utilities news, insider Colleen Arnold sold 2,855 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.55, for a total value of $112,915.25. Following the sale, the insider owned 17,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $686,073.85. This represents a 14.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the second quarter worth $1,280,829,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the second quarter valued at about $134,247,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Essential Utilities by 1,224.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,233,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $126,728,000 after buying an additional 2,989,455 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Essential Utilities during the 2nd quarter worth about $92,467,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Essential Utilities by 1,499.9% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,282,008 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,626,000 after acquiring an additional 1,201,879 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of Essential Utilities stock opened at $43.53 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $12.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.21, a PEG ratio of 3.22 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. Essential Utilities has a one year low of $36.10 and a one year high of $44.09. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $40.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.43.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $530.85 million for 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.38 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Essential Utilities will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

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

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.