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

Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, December 12th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a dividend of 0.3255 per share on Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th.

Essential Utilities has increased its dividend by an average of 7.0% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 32 consecutive years. Essential Utilities has a dividend payout ratio of 61.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research 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 Price Performance

WTRG stock opened at $38.70 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $39.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.92. Essential Utilities has a 12-month low of $33.57 and a 12-month high of $41.78. 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 company has a market capitalization of $10.63 billion, a PE ratio of 19.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.85.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $435.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $416.95 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 27.84% and a return on equity of 7.89%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.30 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities will post 2.01 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WTRG. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Essential Utilities in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $44.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. 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 research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Essential Utilities has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.00.

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.