Wells Fargo & Company Downgrades Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) to Equal Weight

Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a report published on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $39.00 price objective on the stock, down from their prior price objective of $43.00.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on WTRG. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Essential Utilities in a research note on Friday, September 20th. 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 note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.20.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

NYSE:WTRG opened at $35.00 on Tuesday. Essential Utilities has a fifty-two week low of $33.57 and a fifty-two week high of $41.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.55. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $38.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.50, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.86.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $435.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $416.95 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 7.89% and a net margin of 27.84%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.30 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Essential Utilities will post 2.01 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essential Utilities

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 16.7% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,305,976 shares of the company’s stock worth $165,701,000 after buying an additional 82,456 shares during the last quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 2,531,297 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,632,000 after buying an additional 100,990 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,154,215 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,088,000 after buying an additional 145,767 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Essential Utilities by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,034,497 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,471,000 after acquiring an additional 10,560 shares in the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.