Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) Upgraded at Argus

Argus upgraded shares of Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on WTRG. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Monday, December 29th. Northcoast Research raised shares of Essential Utilities from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, Barclays set a $38.00 price objective on Essential Utilities and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Essential Utilities presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.20.

Essential Utilities Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of WTRG opened at $39.62 on Monday. Essential Utilities has a 52-week low of $36.32 and a 52-week high of $42.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.15. The company has a market capitalization of $11.23 billion, a PE ratio of 17.93 and a beta of 0.82.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.11. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 24.91% and a return on equity of 9.18%. The firm had revenue of $699.11 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $611.60 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.67 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Essential Utilities will post 1.99 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.3426 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $1.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.99%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essential Utilities

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WTRG. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its position in Essential Utilities by 26.1% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 13,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $533,000 after purchasing an additional 2,873 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 45,517 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,747,000 after buying an additional 4,351 shares during the period. S Harris Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter worth $253,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter valued at $6,963,000. Finally, Compound Planning Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 11,613 shares of the company’s stock valued at $445,000 after buying an additional 803 shares during the period. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Essential Utilities

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.