Magellan Asset Management Ltd Increases Stock Position in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Magellan Asset Management Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 31.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 295,754 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 70,474 shares during the period. Magellan Asset Management Ltd owned approximately 0.10% of Essential Utilities worth $11,910,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,833,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $530,641,000 after buying an additional 241,176 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in Essential Utilities by 33.4% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 6,335,695 shares of the company’s stock worth $243,023,000 after acquiring an additional 1,586,622 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Essential Utilities by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,233,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $200,197,000 after acquiring an additional 120,947 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its position in Essential Utilities by 19.5% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,539,977 shares of the company’s stock worth $174,163,000 after acquiring an additional 741,587 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 19.0% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,149,063 shares of the company’s stock valued at $159,158,000 after acquiring an additional 662,334 shares during the period. 74.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of WTRG stock opened at $38.89 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $37.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market cap of $11.03 billion, a PE ratio of 19.74 and a beta of 0.65. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 1 year low of $36.10 and a 1 year high of $42.37.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.07). Essential Utilities had a net margin of 21.82% and a return on equity of 8.34%. The firm had revenue of $861.76 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $782.90 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WTRG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Essential Utilities to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 4th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.80.

About Essential Utilities

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.