Seaport Res Ptn Has Strong Estimate for WTRG FY2025 Earnings

Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) – Research analysts at Seaport Res Ptn raised their FY2025 EPS estimates for shares of Essential Utilities in a research note issued to investors on Monday, January 6th. Seaport Res Ptn analyst A. Storozynski now anticipates that the company will post earnings per share of $2.09 for the year, up from their prior estimate of $2.08. The consensus estimate for Essential Utilities’ current full-year earnings is $2.01 per share. Seaport Res Ptn also issued estimates for Essential Utilities’ FY2026 earnings at $2.22 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $2.37 EPS.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $435.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $416.95 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 27.84% and a return on equity of 7.89%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.30 earnings per share.

Several other research firms also recently commented on WTRG. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Friday, September 20th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Essential Utilities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $43.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $44.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essential Utilities presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.20.

Essential Utilities Stock Down 0.8 %

Essential Utilities stock opened at $35.00 on Wednesday. Essential Utilities has a 12 month low of $33.57 and a 12 month high of $41.78. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The firm has a market cap of $9.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.50, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.86.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a $0.3255 dividend. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is 65.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essential Utilities

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WTRG. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its stake in Essential Utilities by 4,309.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,255,483 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,424,000 after acquiring an additional 1,227,010 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 117.3% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,962,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,701,000 after purchasing an additional 1,059,320 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 16.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 6,811,851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $247,134,000 after purchasing an additional 972,803 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,842,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Essential Utilities by 33.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 953,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,795,000 after buying an additional 237,096 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

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.