Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) to Post FY2024 Earnings of $1.98 Per Share, Seaport Res Ptn Forecasts

Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) – Equities researchers at Seaport Res Ptn lowered their FY2024 EPS estimates for Essential Utilities in a report issued on Wednesday, April 24th. Seaport Res Ptn analyst A. Storozynski now expects that the company will post earnings of $1.98 per share for the year, down from their prior estimate of $2.20. The consensus estimate for Essential Utilities’ current full-year earnings is $2.00 per share.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $479.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $708.50 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 24.26% and a return on equity of 8.68%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 32.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.44 EPS.

Separately, Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $51.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.00.

Essential Utilities Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of WTRG opened at $36.09 on Monday. Essential Utilities has a 1-year low of $32.07 and a 1-year high of $43.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $35.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.40, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.82.

Institutional Trading of Essential Utilities

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in Essential Utilities by 14.2% during the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 235,841 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,096,000 after acquiring an additional 29,372 shares in the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its stake in Essential Utilities by 94.0% during the third quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 81,799 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,808,000 after acquiring an additional 39,643 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC grew its stake in Essential Utilities by 9.9% during the third quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 34,360 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,180,000 after acquiring an additional 3,104 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter valued at $3,583,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Essential Utilities by 0.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,168,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $932,698,000 after acquiring an additional 99,560 shares in the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essential Utilities news, CAO Robert A. Rubin sold 5,565 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.21, for a total value of $207,073.65. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 57,756 shares in the company, valued at $2,149,100.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.3071 per share. This represents a $1.23 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. This is a boost from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is presently 66.13%.

Essential Utilities Company Profile

Essential Utilities, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates regulated utilities that provide water, wastewater, or natural gas services in the United States. The company operates through Regulated Water and Regulated Natural Gas segments. It offers water services through operating and maintenance contract with municipal authorities and other parties.