Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) Receives $43.50 Average PT from Analysts

Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the six ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $43.50.

Several equities analysts recently commented on WTRG shares. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 20th.

Essential Utilities Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of WTRG opened at $37.05 on Friday. Essential Utilities has a 52 week low of $33.18 and a 52 week high of $41.78. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market cap of $10.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.81.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.23. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 9.81% and a net margin of 27.17%. The company had revenue of $783.63 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $713.80 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.97 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Essential Utilities will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essential Utilities

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of WTRG. Bfsg LLC boosted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 22.1% during the 1st quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 1,453 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 24,652 shares of the company’s stock valued at $895,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 6,342 shares of the company’s stock valued at $230,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 70,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,546,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 24.7% in the 1st quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 1,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Essential Utilities

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.