Essential Utilities Inc. (WTRG) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.34 on March 2nd

Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, January 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th will be given a dividend of 0.3426 per share on Monday, March 2nd. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 9th.

Essential Utilities has raised its dividend payment by an average of 0.1%annually 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. Equities analysts expect Essential Utilities to earn $2.13 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 64.3%.

Essential Utilities Stock Down 0.6%

Essential Utilities stock traded down $0.23 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $37.46. The company had a trading volume of 2,073,067 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,896,814. The business has a fifty day moving average of $38.54 and a 200 day moving average of $38.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. Essential Utilities has a 1 year low of $34.58 and a 1 year high of $42.37. The stock has a market cap of $10.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.54 and a beta of 0.81.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.06. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 28.09%.The firm had revenue of $476.97 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $472.40 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.25 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Essential Utilities will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Company Profile

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.