Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) Issues FY 2024 Earnings Guidance

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) updated its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Monday. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 1.960-2.000 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 2.030. The company issued revenue guidance of -. Essential Utilities also updated its FY 2025 guidance to 2.070-2.110 EPS.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Friday, September 20th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Essential Utilities in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $44.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.40.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

NYSE:WTRG traded up $1.15 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $39.78. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 615,517 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,523,943. Essential Utilities has a 12-month low of $33.28 and a 12-month high of $41.78. The stock has a market cap of $10.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.27, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $38.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.63.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $435.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $416.95 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 28.74% and a return on equity of 8.16%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.30 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Essential Utilities will post 1.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be issued 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 of this dividend is Tuesday, November 12th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.41%.

Essential Utilities Company Profile

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.