Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.06 EPS

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.06, Zacks reports. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 27.62%. Essential Utilities updated its FY 2025 guidance to 2.070-2.110 EPS.

Essential Utilities Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of Essential Utilities stock traded up $0.31 on Tuesday, hitting $38.39. 2,900,107 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,823,005. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $39.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.75. 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 has a 52 week low of $33.18 and a 52 week high of $42.37. The company has a market cap of $10.77 billion, a PE ratio of 16.48, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.82.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.3426 per share. This represents a $1.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 12th. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is currently 58.80%.

Institutional Trading of Essential Utilities

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 73.2% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,336,424 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,635,000 after acquiring an additional 564,799 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 1,572.4% during the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,271,201 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,212,000 after acquiring an additional 1,195,189 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 122.7% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 943,797 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,308,000 after acquiring an additional 519,933 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 851.4% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 717,716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,541,000 after acquiring an additional 642,277 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the second quarter valued at approximately $15,784,000. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WTRG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Northcoast Research set a $46.00 price target on Essential Utilities in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research upgraded Essential Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott lowered Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.57.

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.