Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) Issues Earnings Results

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) posted its earnings results on Tuesday. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.05, Zacks reports. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 21.60% and a return on equity of 8.23%.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

NYSE:WTRG traded down $0.35 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $44.09. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,227,845 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,264,637. Essential Utilities has a fifty-two week low of $36.10 and a fifty-two week high of $44.67. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $40.83 and its 200-day moving average is $39.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The firm has a market cap of $12.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.63.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 10th will be issued a $0.3606 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 10th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is 73.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have 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. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 16th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essential Utilities presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.00.

Insider Activity at Essential Utilities

In other news, insider Colleen Arnold sold 2,855 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 7th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $686,073.85. This represents a 14.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.36% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.