Essential Utilities’ (WTRG) Buy Rating Reiterated at Bank of America

Bank of America reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) in a report released on Friday morning, MarketBeat reports. Bank of America currently has a $45.00 target price on the stock.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $44.50.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

WTRG opened at $38.00 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The firm has a market cap of $10.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.01, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.85. Essential Utilities has a 1-year low of $32.07 and a 1-year high of $41.78.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $434.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $442.76 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 8.16% and a net margin of 28.74%. The business’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.34 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Essential Utilities will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $0.3255 per share. This is an increase from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.61%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Robert A. Rubin sold 2,342 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Essential Utilities by 17,553.7% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,425,350 shares of the company’s stock valued at $126,156,000 after buying an additional 3,405,947 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter worth about $97,288,000. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the first quarter valued at about $46,280,000. UBS Group AG raised its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 271.9% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,225,849 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,785,000 after purchasing an additional 896,223 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Essential Utilities by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,992,080 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,045,504,000 after purchasing an additional 823,495 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

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.