Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) to Issue Dividend Increase – $0.31 Per Share

Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 21st, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a dividend of 0.3071 per share on Saturday, June 1st. This represents a $1.23 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This is an increase from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31.

Essential Utilities has increased its dividend by an average of 7.0% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 31 consecutive years. Essential Utilities has a payout ratio of 58.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Essential Utilities to earn $2.11 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.23 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 58.3%.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

NYSE:WTRG opened at $38.67 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.33, a P/E/G ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.80. Essential Utilities has a twelve month low of $32.07 and a twelve month high of $43.74. The company has a fifty day moving average of $36.02 and a 200-day moving average of $35.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 23rd. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $479.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $708.50 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 29.52% and a return on equity of 8.62%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 32.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.44 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities will post 2 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Essential Utilities news, CAO Robert A. Rubin sold 2,023 shares of Essential Utilities stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.56, for a total transaction of $73,960.88. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 13,358 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $488,368.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CAO Robert A. Rubin sold 2,023 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.56, for a total value of $73,960.88. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 13,358 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $488,368.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Robert A. Rubin sold 5,565 shares of Essential Utilities stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.21, for a total transaction of $207,073.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 57,756 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,149,100.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on WTRG shares. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Essential Utilities from $44.00 to $43.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $51.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.00.

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.