Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.02 EPS

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday. The company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.02), Briefing.com reports. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 29.52%. The company had revenue of $434.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $442.76 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.34 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

WTRG traded up $0.33 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $39.78. 1,219,117 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,589,625. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.92, a PEG ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 0.83. Essential Utilities has a 1-year low of $32.07 and a 1-year high of $41.78. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $38.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.3255 per share. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 12th. This is an increase from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on WTRG shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.80.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Robert A. Rubin sold 2,342 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.43, for a total value of $87,661.06. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 53,391 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,998,425.13. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

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.