Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.01 EPS

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) announced its earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.01, Zacks reports. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 7.89% and a net margin of 27.84%. Essential Utilities updated its FY 2025 guidance to 2.070-2.110 EPS.

Essential Utilities Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of WTRG stock traded down $0.47 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $37.54. 2,420,478 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,494,645. The business’s fifty day moving average is $35.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.87. Essential Utilities has a 12-month low of $33.18 and a 12-month high of $41.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.39.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.3255 per share. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 13th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on WTRG. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $41.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Essential Utilities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $43.00 to $39.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.00.

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.