Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the nine research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation, one has given a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $42.40.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WTRG. Argus upgraded shares of Essential Utilities to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, UBS Group set a $41.00 target price on shares of Essential Utilities in a research report on Thursday, May 7th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essential Utilities

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WTRG. GoalVest Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac bought a new stake in Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Essential Utilities in the first quarter valued at $27,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp increased its stake in Essential Utilities by 1,163.8% in the third quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 733 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of WTRG stock opened at $36.69 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.95. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $39.02 and its 200-day moving average is $39.01. The stock has a market cap of $10.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.62 and a beta of 0.67. Essential Utilities has a 52-week low of $36.32 and a 52-week high of $42.37.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.07). Essential Utilities had a net margin of 21.82% and a return on equity of 8.34%. The company had revenue of $861.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $782.90 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Essential Utilities will post 2.25 EPS for the current year.

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.