Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund purchased a new stake in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG – Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 68,336 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,621,000.
Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WTRG. Nuance Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,835,000. Prudential PLC increased its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 79,077 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,033,000 after purchasing an additional 10,666 shares during the period. Vise Technologies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 30,966 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,188,000 after purchasing an additional 3,752 shares during the period. Magellan Asset Management Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd now owns 225,280 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,642,000 after purchasing an additional 11,257 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 155,090 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,949,000 after purchasing an additional 2,600 shares during the period. 74.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several research analysts have recently commented on WTRG shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Argus raised shares of Essential Utilities to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Essential Utilities from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $41.00 to $43.00 in a report on Friday, May 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essential Utilities has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.80.
Essential Utilities Stock Performance
Shares of NYSE:WTRG opened at $37.50 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.03 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.84. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 1 year low of $36.10 and a 1 year high of $42.37.
Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $861.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $782.90 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 21.82% and a return on equity of 8.34%. The business’s revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Essential Utilities Profile
Essential Utilities, Inc, formerly known as Aqua America, is a publicly traded water and natural gas utility holding company. Through its regulated water and wastewater subsidiaries, the company provides essential water services to residential, commercial and industrial customers. In addition, Essential Utilities delivers natural gas distribution services in Pennsylvania through its Peoples Gas subsidiary, offering integrated utility solutions under a unified corporate framework.
The company traces its roots to the Philadelphia Suburban Water Company, founded in 1886 to serve growing communities outside Philadelphia.
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