Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA Decreases Holdings in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA cut its stake in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 3.3% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 13,898 shares of the company’s stock after selling 480 shares during the quarter. Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $549,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WTRG. Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,507,000. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 25,255 shares of the company’s stock worth $998,000 after acquiring an additional 1,867 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $638,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 14.2% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 9,775 shares of the company’s stock valued at $386,000 after purchasing an additional 1,218 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 3.9% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 107,240 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,239,000 after purchasing an additional 4,015 shares in the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Essential Utilities Trading Down 0.3%

WTRG opened at $37.07 on Friday. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 12-month low of $33.18 and a 12-month high of $41.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.39 billion, a PE ratio of 16.62, a P/E/G ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.79. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $37.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.83.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $783.63 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $713.80 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 27.17% and a return on equity of 9.81%. The company’s revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WTRG. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Essential Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.50.

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.