Essential Utilities Inc (NYSE: WTRG)’s stock price has plunge by -1.97relation to previous closing price of 34.56. Nevertheless, the company has seen a -7.71% plunge in its stock price over the last five trading sessions. InvestorPlace reported 2024-04-16 that Critical resources are in the spotlight for controversial reasons, which may offer downwind benefits for water stocks to buy now. Essentially, the world is becoming a much more dangerous place, resulting in a pivot toward risk-off asset categories.
Is It Worth Investing in Essential Utilities Inc (NYSE: WTRG) Right Now?
Essential Utilities Inc (NYSE: WTRG) has a higher price-to-earnings ratio of 18.19x compared to its average ratio. WTRG has 36-month beta value of 0.81. Analysts have mixed views on the stock, with 0 analysts rating it as a “buy,” 0 as “overweight,” 0 as “hold,” and 0 as “sell.”
The public float for WTRG is 272.93M, and currently, short sellers hold a 2.42% ratio of that float. The average trading volume of WTRG on April 17, 2024 was 1.79M shares.
WTRG’s Market Performance
WTRG’s stock has seen a -7.71% decrease for the week, with a -5.89% drop in the past month and a -10.32% fall in the past quarter. The volatility ratio for the week is 2.37%, and the volatility levels for the past 30 days are at 1.84% for Essential Utilities Inc The simple moving average for the past 20 days is -5.95% for WTRG’s stock, with a -7.49% simple moving average for the past 200 days.
Analysts’ Opinion of WTRG
Northcoast, on the other hand, stated in their research note that they expect to see WTRG reach a price target of $42. The rating they have provided for WTRG stocks is “Buy” according to the report published on September 28th, 2023.
WTRG Trading at -5.13% from the 50-Day Moving Average
After a stumble in the market that brought WTRG to its low price for the period of the last 52 weeks, the company was unable to rebound, for now settling with -23.09% of loss for the given period.
Volatility was left at 1.84%, however, over the last 30 days, the volatility rate increased by 2.37%, as shares sank -5.26% for the moving average over the last 20 days. Over the last 50 days, in opposition, the stock is trading -6.33% lower at present.
During the last 5 trading sessions, WTRG fell by -7.71%, which changed the moving average for the period of 200-days by -14.16% in comparison to the 20-day moving average, which settled at $35.93. In addition, Essential Utilities Inc saw -9.29% in overturn over a single year, with a tendency to cut further losses.
Insider Trading
Reports are indicating that there were more than several insider trading activities at WTRG starting from RUBIN ROBERT A, who sale 5,565 shares at the price of $37.21 back on Apr 01 ’24. After this action, RUBIN ROBERT A now owns 57,756 shares of Essential Utilities Inc, valued at $207,074 using the latest closing price.
RUBIN ROBERT A, the Chief Accounting Officer of Essential Utilities Inc, sale 3,551 shares at $36.00 during a trade that took place back on Mar 11 ’24, which means that RUBIN ROBERT A is holding 63,321 shares at $127,836 based on the most recent closing price.
Stock Fundamentals for WTRG
Current profitability levels for the company are sitting at:
- 0.34 for the present operating margin
- 0.51 for the gross margin
The net margin for Essential Utilities Inc stands at 0.24. The total capital return value is set at 0.04. Equity return is now at value 8.84, with 2.99 for asset returns.
Based on Essential Utilities Inc (WTRG), the company’s capital structure generated 0.54 points at debt to capital in total, while cash flow to debt ratio is standing at 0.13. The debt to equity ratio resting at 1.2. The interest coverage ratio of the stock is 2.44.
Currently, EBITDA for the company is 1.04 billion with net debt to EBITDA at 7.36. When we switch over and look at the enterprise to sales, we see a ratio of 7.94. The receivables turnover for the company is 8.36for trailing twelve months and the total asset turnover is 0.12. The liquidity ratio also appears to be rather interesting for investors as it stands at 0.62.
Conclusion
To put it simply, Essential Utilities Inc (WTRG) has had a bad performance in recent times. Analysts have a mixed opinion on the stock, with some rating it as a “buy” and others as a “hold”. It’s important to note that the stock is currently trading at a significant distance from its 50-day moving average and its 52-week high.
