Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) Updates FY 2025 Earnings Guidance

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) issued an update on its FY 2025 earnings guidance on Monday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of 2.070-2.110 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of 2.120. The company issued revenue guidance of -. Essential Utilities also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 1.960-2.000 EPS.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WTRG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Monday, October 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $44.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Essential Utilities in a research note on Friday, September 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.60.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of Essential Utilities stock traded up $0.36 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $40.48. 1,064,472 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,526,898. Essential Utilities has a 12 month low of $33.28 and a 12 month high of $41.78. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.66. The company has a market capitalization of $11.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.58.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $435.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $416.95 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 7.94% and a net margin of 27.84%. Essential Utilities’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.30 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be given a $0.3255 dividend. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is 65.00%.

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.