Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday. The stock traded as high as $45.67 and last traded at $45.8110, with a volume of 102,856 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $45.13.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on WTRG. Barclays boosted their target price on Essential Utilities from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. UBS Group cut their price target on Essential Utilities from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Essential Utilities from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.00.

Essential Utilities Stock Up 0.9%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.78. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.50. The firm has a market cap of $12.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.62.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 3rd. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.05. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 21.79% and a return on equity of 8.42%. The firm had revenue of $508.26 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $450.44 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.33 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.21 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 10th will be given a dividend of $0.3606 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 10th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is presently 73.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essential Utilities

In related news, insider Colleen Arnold sold 2,855 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.55, for a total value of $112,915.25. Following the transaction, the insider owned 17,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $686,073.85. This trade represents a 14.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essential Utilities

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WTRG. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,280,829,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 5.5% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,119,170 shares of the company’s stock valued at $502,595,000 after buying an additional 687,688 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the second quarter valued at approximately $134,247,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Essential Utilities by 1,224.0% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,233,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $126,728,000 after buying an additional 2,989,455 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Essential Utilities by 3.8% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,881,490 shares of the company’s stock worth $116,049,000 after buying an additional 106,252 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

About Essential Utilities

Essential Utilities, Inc is a regulated utility company that provides water, wastewater and natural gas services to residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers. Through its Aqua and Peoples operations, the company owns and operates water and wastewater systems, natural gas distribution networks and related infrastructure. Its services include the treatment and delivery of drinking water, collection and treatment of wastewater, and the distribution of natural gas.

The company serves customers across several U.S.