Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.02 EPS

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday. The company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.02), Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $434.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $442.76 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 29.52%. Essential Utilities’s quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.34 EPS.

Essential Utilities Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of WTRG stock traded up $0.59 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $40.04. 337,080 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,583,783. The stock has a market cap of $10.95 billion, a PE ratio of 18.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 0.83. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. Essential Utilities has a 12 month low of $32.07 and a 12 month high of $41.78.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th will be given a $0.3255 dividend. This is a boost from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 12th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is 61.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WTRG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Robert A. Rubin sold 2,342 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 53,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,998,425.13. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.