Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG – Get Rating) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday.
A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on WTRG. Zacks Investment Research downgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $53.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, March 29th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 15th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Essential Utilities from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $52.00 to $53.00 in a report on Thursday, March 10th. Finally, HSBC cut shares of Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $53.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, April 8th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essential Utilities currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $52.75.
WTRG stock opened at $51.07 on Wednesday. Essential Utilities has a twelve month low of $44.71 and a twelve month high of $53.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The company has a market capitalization of $12.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.58, a PEG ratio of 4.76 and a beta of 0.64. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $48.55.
Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 23rd. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 22.98% and a return on equity of 8.65%. The business had revenue of $535.69 million during the quarter. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.46 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Essential Utilities will post 1.78 EPS for the current year.
Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sageworth Trust Co of South Dakota acquired a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in Essential Utilities by 191.6% in the fourth quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 522 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Concord Wealth Partners acquired a new position in Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 67.74% of the company’s stock.
About Essential Utilities
Essential Utilities, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates regulated utilities that provide water, wastewater, or natural gas services in the United States. It offers water services through operating and maintenance contract with municipal authorities and other parties. The company also provides non-utility raw water supply services for firms in the natural gas drilling industry; and water and sewer line protection solutions, and repair services to households through a third-party.