Top MarketRank™ StocksTop MarketRank™Top-Rated Dividend StocksTop-Rated DividendNYSE:WTRG Essential Utilities (WTRG) Stock Price, News & Analysis $38.38 +0.09 (+0.24%) (As of 10:05 AM ET) Add Compare Share Share Stock Analysis Stock AnalysisAnalyst ForecastsChartCompetitorsDividendEarningsFinancialsHeadlinesInsider TradesOptions ChainOwnershipSEC FilingsShort InterestSustainabilityTrends About Essential Utilities Stock (NYSE:WTRG) 30 days 90 days 365 days Advanced Chart View Price History Chart DataSkip Price History Chart Key Stats Today's Range$37.97▼$38.3850-Day Range$38.00▼$41.5152-Week Range$32.07▼$41.78Volume58,261 shsAverage Volume1.55 million shsMarket Capitalization$10.50 billionP/E Ratio18.19Dividend Yield3.39%Price Target$44.50Consensus RatingBuy Company OverviewEssential 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. In addition, the company provides utility service line protection solutions and repair services to households. It serves approximately 5.5 million residential water, commercial water, fire protection, industrial water, wastewater, and other water and utility customers in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas, Illinois, North Carolina, New Jersey, Indiana, Virginia, and Kentucky under the Aqua and Peoples brands. The company was formerly known as Aqua America, Inc. and changed its name to Essential Utilities, Inc. in February 2020. Essential Utilities, Inc. was founded in 1886 and is headquartered in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.Read More… Urgent 2024 Election Summit [link enclosed] (Ad)With the 2024 election just weeks away, a new crisis is barrelling down on America… one that could cleave the financial world in two the moment the polls close. I predict they could see investment losses of 50% (or more) in the weeks following the presidential election. Click here now to grab your seat now. Essential Utilities Stock Analysis - MarketRank™See Top Rated MarketRank™ StocksOverall MarketRank™: 99th PercentileEssential Utilities scored higher than 99% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 1st out of 94 stocks in the utilities sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation. Analyst's Opinion2.5 / 5Analyst RatingBuy Consensus RatingEssential Utilities has received a consensus rating of Buy. The company's average rating score is 3.00, and is based on 7 buy ratings, no hold ratings, and no sell ratings.Amount of Analyst CoverageEssential Utilities has only been the subject of 4 research reports in the past 90 days.Read more about Essential Utilities' stock forecast and price target. Earnings and Valuation2.5 / 5Proj. Earnings Growth8.76% Earnings GrowthEarnings for Essential Utilities are expected to grow by 8.76% in the coming year, from $1.94 to $2.11 per share.Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the MarketThe P/E ratio of Essential Utilities is 18.14, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 137.69.Price to Earnings Ratio vs. SectorThe P/E ratio of Essential Utilities is 18.14, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the Utilities sector average P/E ratio of about 92.14.Price to Earnings Growth RatioEssential Utilities has a PEG Ratio of 3.55. PEG Ratios above 1 indicate that a company could be overvalued.Price to Book Value per Share RatioEssential Utilities has a P/B Ratio of 1.77. P/B Ratios below 3 indicates that a company is reasonably valued with respect to its assets and liabilities.Read more about Essential Utilities' valuation and earnings. Short Interest5.0 / 5Short Interest LevelHealthy Percentage of Shares Shorted1.67% of the outstanding shares of Essential Utilities have been sold short.Short Interest Ratio / Days to CoverEssential Utilities has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 3.5, which is generally considered an acceptable ratio of short interest to trading volume.Change versus previous monthShort interest in Essential Utilities has recently decreased by 11.41%, indicating that investor sentiment is improving significantly. Dividend4.2 / 5Dividend StrengthStrong Dividend YieldEssential Utilities pays a meaningful dividend of 3.40%, higher than the bottom 25% of all stocks that pay dividends.Dividend GrowthEssential Utilities has been increasing its dividend for 32 years.Dividend CoverageThe dividend payout ratio of Essential Utilities is 61.61%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%.Dividend SustainabilityBased on earnings estimates, Essential Utilities will have a dividend payout ratio of 61.61% next year. This indicates that Essential Utilities will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.Read more about Essential Utilities' dividend. Sustainability and ESG3.1 / 5Environmental Score-2.18 Percentage of Shares Shorted1.67% of the outstanding shares of Essential Utilities have been sold short.Short Interest Ratio / Days to CoverEssential Utilities has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 3.5, which is generally considered an acceptable ratio of short interest to trading volume.Change versus previous monthShort interest in Essential Utilities has recently decreased by 11.41%, indicating that investor sentiment is improving significantly. News and Social Media3.2 / 5News Sentiment0.79 News SentimentEssential Utilities has a news sentiment score of 0.79. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This is a higher news sentiment than the 0.51 average news sentiment score of Utilities companies.News Coverage This WeekMarketBeat has tracked 15 news articles for Essential Utilities this week, compared to 5 articles on an average week.Search Interest9 people have searched for WTRG on MarketBeat in the last 30 days. This is an increase of 800% compared to the previous 30 days.MarketBeat FollowsOnly 2 people have added Essential Utilities to their MarketBeat watchlist in the last 30 days. This is a decrease of 0% compared to the previous 30 days. Company Ownership2.5 / 5Insider TradingSelling Shares Insider Buying vs. Insider SellingIn the past three months, Essential Utilities insiders have sold more of their company's stock than they have bought. Specifically, they have bought $0.00 in company stock and sold $87,661.00 in company stock.Percentage Held by InsidersOnly 0.21% of the stock of Essential Utilities is held by insiders.Percentage Held by Institutions74.78% of the stock of Essential Utilities is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.Read more about Essential Utilities' insider trading history. WTRG Stock News HeadlinesTop 3 Stocks to Outperform the S&P 500 in a DownturnCheck out these three stocks that have outperformed big in past bear markets. Their business have inherent advantages the success in a downturn.September 4, 2024 | marketbeat.comEarnings growth of 2.3% over 3 years hasn't been enough to translate into positive returns for Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) shareholdersSeptember 23 at 11:29 AM | finance.yahoo.comThe most serious warning of my careerWith the 2024 election just weeks away, a new crisis is barrelling down on America… one that could cleave the financial world in two the moment the polls close. I predict they could see investment losses of 50% (or more) in the weeks following the presidential election. September 24, 2024 | Porter & Company (Ad)Brokerages Set Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) Price Target at $44.40September 23 at 1:44 AM | americanbankingnews.comBuy Rating for Essential Utilities: Undervalued with Positive Regulatory ProspectsSeptember 21 at 5:28 PM | markets.businessinsider.comBank of America Reiterates Buy Rating for Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG)September 21 at 5:53 AM | americanbankingnews.comEssential Utilities to Announce Quarterly Earnings, Hosts Conference CallSeptember 18, 2024 | msn.com(WTRG) - Analyzing Essential Utilities's Short InterestSeptember 18, 2024 | benzinga.comSee More Headlines WTRG Stock Analysis - Frequently Asked Questions How have WTRG shares performed this year? Essential Utilities' stock was trading at $37.35 at the start of the year. Since then, WTRG stock has increased by 2.4% and is now trading at $38.2650. View the best growth stocks for 2024 here. How were Essential Utilities' earnings last quarter? Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) announced its earnings results on Monday, August, 5th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.02. Essential Utilities's quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. Who are Essential Utilities' major shareholders? Essential Utilities' top institutional shareholders include Bank of New York Mellon Corp (1.01%), Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. (0.89%), Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. (0.74%) and Dimensional Fund Advisors LP (0.55%). Insiders that own company stock include Robert A Rubin, Chris Franklin, Ellen T Ruff and Colleen Arnold. View institutional ownership trends. How do I buy shares of Essential Utilities? Shares of WTRG stock can be purchased through any online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages with access to the U.S. stock market include Charles Schwab, E*TRADE, Fidelity, and Vanguard Brokerage Services. Compare Top Brokerages Here. Company Calendar Last Earnings8/05/2024Ex-Dividend for 9/3 Dividend8/12/2024Ex-Dividend for 9/3 Dividend8/12/2024Dividend Payable9/03/2024Dividend Payable9/03/2024Today9/24/2024Next Earnings (Confirmed)11/04/2024Fiscal Year End12/31/2024Get Stock AlertsIndustry, Sector and Symbol Stock ExchangeNYSE SectorUtilities Industry Water supply Sub-IndustryUtilities Current SymbolNYSE:WTRG CUSIPN/A CIK78128 Webwww.essential.co Phone(610) 527-8000Fax610-645-1061Employees3,258Year FoundedN/APrice Target and Rating Average Stock Price Target$44.50 High Stock Price Target$45.00 Low Stock Price Target$42.00 Potential Upside/Downside+16.3%Consensus RatingBuy Rating Score (0-4)3.00 Research Coverage7 Analysts Profitability EPS (Most Recent Fiscal Year)$2.11 Trailing P/E Ratio18.14 Forward P/E Ratio19.72 P/E Growth3.55Net Income$498.23 million Net Margins28.74% Pretax Margin26.50% Return on Equity8.16% Return on Assets2.90% Debt Debt-to-Equity Ratio1.14 Current Ratio0.58 Quick Ratio0.44 Sales & Book Value Annual Sales$1.94 billion Price / Sales5.40 Cash Flow$2.99 per share Price / Cash Flow12.81 Book Value$21.58 per share Price / Book1.77Miscellaneous Outstanding Shares273,524,000Free Float272,950,000Market Cap$10.47 billion OptionableOptionable Beta0.85 This page (NYSE:WTRG) was last updated on 9/24/2024 by MarketBeat.com Staff From Our PartnersSell NVDA Now?Guess who's selling NVDA next The most successful hedge fund in history quietly sold 500,000 shares. 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