Zacks Research Issues Pessimistic Estimate for WTRG Earnings

Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) – Equities research analysts at Zacks Research reduced their FY2025 EPS estimates for shares of Essential Utilities in a research report issued on Wednesday, January 15th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now anticipates that the company will post earnings of $2.11 per share for the year, down from their prior estimate of $2.12. The consensus estimate for Essential Utilities’ current full-year earnings is $1.99 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Essential Utilities’ Q2 2026 earnings at $0.39 EPS.

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

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted 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 lowered Essential Utilities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $43.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $44.00 to $41.00 in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essential Utilities currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.00.

Essential Utilities Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE WTRG opened at $35.07 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $9.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.54, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.86. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.71. Essential Utilities has a 1 year low of $33.18 and a 1 year high of $41.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.39.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.3255 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.71%. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is currently 65.00%.

Institutional Trading of Essential Utilities

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 95,426 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,562,000 after buying an additional 3,987 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 18.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,500,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,002,000 after purchasing an additional 234,857 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 40,724 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,519,000 after purchasing an additional 908 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL purchased a new stake in Essential Utilities during the second quarter worth $947,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in Essential Utilities during the second quarter valued at $1,103,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.