Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) Cut to “Underweight” at Barclays

Barclays lowered shares of Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) from an overweight rating to an underweight rating in a research note released on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $38.00 target price on the stock, down from their previous target price of $43.00.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 price objective (down previously from $46.00) on shares of Essential Utilities in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Essential Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 11th. Zacks Research raised shares of Essential Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $47.00 to $44.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.29.

Essential Utilities Stock Down 2.0%

WTRG stock opened at $37.89 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.72 billion, a PE ratio of 15.72 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a fifty day moving average of $39.36 and a 200-day moving average of $38.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.60. Essential Utilities has a one year low of $33.18 and a one year high of $42.37.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $476.97 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $472.40 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 28.09%.Essential Utilities’s revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.25 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Essential Utilities will post 1.99 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th were given a $0.3426 dividend. This represents a $1.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 12th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.85%.

Institutional Trading of Essential Utilities

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. AIA Group Ltd bought a new stake in Essential Utilities during the third quarter valued at $305,000. Lindenwold Advisors INC boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 133.2% in the 3rd quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 17,405 shares of the company’s stock valued at $694,000 after buying an additional 9,943 shares during the period. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board grew its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 53,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,131,000 after buying an additional 4,600 shares during the last quarter. Severin Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Essential Utilities during the third quarter worth about $449,000. Finally, Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd lifted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 6.5% in the third quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 104,933 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,187,000 after acquiring an additional 6,395 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

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.