Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) Releases FY 2024 Earnings Guidance

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) issued an update on its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Tuesday morning. The company provided EPS guidance of 2.000- for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of 2.070. The company issued revenue guidance of -.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on WTRG. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Essential Utilities presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $43.80.

Essential Utilities Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE WTRG traded up $0.33 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $39.78. The stock had a trading volume of 1,240,155 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,589,764. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $38.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.15. Essential Utilities has a 52 week low of $32.07 and a 52 week high of $41.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.62. The company has a market capitalization of $10.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 0.83.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.30 by ($0.02). Essential Utilities had a net margin of 29.52% and a return on equity of 8.62%. The firm had revenue of $434.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $442.76 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.34 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities will post 1.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.3255 per share. This is an increase from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 12th. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is currently 61.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Essential Utilities news, CAO Robert A. Rubin sold 2,342 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.43, for a total value of $87,661.06. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 53,391 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,998,425.13. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Essential Utilities

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.