Essential Utilities (WTRG) Scheduled to Post Earnings on Thursday

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) is scheduled to be releasing its earnings data after the market closes on Thursday, May 2nd. Analysts expect Essential Utilities to post earnings of $0.75 per share for the quarter. Persons interested in listening to the company’s earnings conference call can do so using this link.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 23rd. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.01. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 24.26% and a return on equity of 8.68%. The company had revenue of $479.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $708.50 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.44 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 32.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect Essential Utilities to post $2 EPS for the current fiscal year and $2 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

NYSE:WTRG opened at $36.54 on Thursday. Essential Utilities has a 52 week low of $32.07 and a 52 week high of $44.05. The firm has a market cap of $9.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.82. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.62.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a dividend of $0.3071 per share. This represents a $1.23 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. This is a positive change from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.13%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Robert A. Rubin sold 5,565 shares of Essential Utilities stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.21, for a total transaction of $207,073.65. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 57,756 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,149,100.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Essential Utilities currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.