Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Bank of America

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by analysts at Bank of America in a note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. They presently have a $45.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America‘s price target points to a potential upside of 18.42% from the company’s previous close.

WTRG has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essential Utilities presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.50.

Essential Utilities Trading Down 0.8 %

Essential Utilities stock opened at $38.00 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $10.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.85. Essential Utilities has a 1 year low of $32.07 and a 1 year high of $41.78. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $39.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.92. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $434.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $442.76 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 28.74% and a return on equity of 8.16%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.34 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Essential Utilities will post 1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Essential Utilities news, CAO Robert A. Rubin sold 2,342 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.43, for a total value of $87,661.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 53,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,998,425.13. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,992,080 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,045,504,000 after purchasing an additional 823,495 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Essential Utilities by 17,553.7% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,425,350 shares of the company’s stock worth $126,156,000 after buying an additional 3,405,947 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 0.4% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,754,099 shares of the company’s stock worth $102,811,000 after buying an additional 9,822 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter worth approximately $97,288,000. Finally, Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 0.7% in the second quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,023,937 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,554,000 after acquiring an additional 13,557 shares during 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.