Essential Utilities (WTRG) to Release Quarterly Earnings on Monday

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) will be releasing its quarterly earnings results after the market closes on Monday, November 4th. Analysts expect Essential Utilities to post earnings of $0.23 per share for the quarter. Parties that wish to listen to the company's conference call can do so using this link.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.30 by ($0.02). Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 8.16% and a net margin of 28.74%. The firm had revenue of $434.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $442.76 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.34 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. 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

WTRG stock traded up $0.34 during trading on Monday, hitting $39.18. 1,082,369 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,524,273. The stock has a market cap of $10.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.84. Essential Utilities has a one year low of $32.95 and a one year high of $41.78. 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.48.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a $0.3255 dividend. This is an increase from Essential Utilities's previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. Essential Utilities's payout ratio is presently 63.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WTRG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed 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 on the stock. Evercore ISI increased 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Bank of America reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Essential Utilities in a research note on Friday, September 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $44.80.

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.