Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) Price Target Raised to $46.00 at Evercore ISI

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) had its target price raised by Evercore ISI from $45.00 to $46.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on WTRG. UBS Group cut their price objective on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Essential Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $41.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Essential Utilities from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.50.

Essential Utilities Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE WTRG opened at $38.52 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. Essential Utilities has a twelve month low of $33.18 and a twelve month high of $41.78. The company has a market cap of $10.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.79. The business’s fifty day moving average is $35.75 and its 200 day moving average is $37.82.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.01. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 7.89% and a net margin of 27.84%. The company had revenue of $604.38 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $698.77 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Essential Utilities will post 1.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be given a $0.3255 dividend. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.91%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Glenmede Trust Co. NA raised its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 51,881 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,001,000 after acquiring an additional 803 shares in the last quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 92.8% in the 4th quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 148,009 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,529,000 after acquiring an additional 71,222 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 6,811,851 shares of the company’s stock worth $247,134,000 after acquiring an additional 972,803 shares in the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,585,475 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,152,000 after acquiring an additional 84,596 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the 4th quarter worth about $638,000. 74.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.