Essential Utilities Inc. (WTRG) To Go Ex-Dividend on February 9th

Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, January 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th will be given a dividend of 0.3426 per share on Monday, March 2nd. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 9th.

Essential Utilities has increased its dividend by an average of 0.1%per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 32 consecutive years. Essential Utilities has a payout ratio of 61.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Essential Utilities to earn $2.13 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.37 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 64.3%.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

Essential Utilities stock opened at $37.46 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. Essential Utilities has a 12-month low of $34.58 and a 12-month high of $42.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.54 and a beta of 0.81. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.88.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $476.97 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $472.40 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 28.09% and a return on equity of 10.20%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.25 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 351.4% during the third quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 234,179 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,057,000 after acquiring an additional 182,301 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Essential Utilities by 25.5% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,972,565 shares of the company’s stock worth $354,057,000 after buying an additional 1,822,306 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 1.1% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,709,048 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,091,000 after buying an additional 29,904 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $638,000. Finally, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI purchased a new position in Essential Utilities in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,088,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

About Essential Utilities

Essential Utilities, Inc, formerly known as Aqua America, is a publicly traded water and natural gas utility holding company. Through its regulated water and wastewater subsidiaries, the company provides essential water services to residential, commercial and industrial customers. In addition, Essential Utilities delivers natural gas distribution services in Pennsylvania through its Peoples Gas subsidiary, offering integrated utility solutions under a unified corporate framework.

The company traces its roots to the Philadelphia Suburban Water Company, founded in 1886 to serve growing communities outside Philadelphia.