Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) Plans $0.33 Quarterly Dividend

Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, October 30th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be given a dividend of 0.3255 per share on Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th.

Essential Utilities has raised its dividend payment by an average of 7.0% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 32 years. Essential Utilities has a dividend payout ratio of 60.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Essential Utilities to earn $2.12 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.30 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 61.3%.

Essential Utilities Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE WTRG opened at $38.60 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $39.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.58. The company has a market cap of $10.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.84. Essential Utilities has a one year low of $33.00 and a one year high of $41.78.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last posted its quarterly 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). The business had revenue of $434.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $442.76 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 8.16% and a net margin of 28.74%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.34 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities will post 1.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WTRG shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Essential Utilities in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $44.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Essential Utilities in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.80.

About Essential Utilities

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.