NFJ Investment Group LLC Lowers Stake in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

NFJ Investment Group LLC reduced its position in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 21.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 105,602 shares of the company’s stock after selling 28,765 shares during the quarter. NFJ Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $4,051,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Pekao Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the 4th quarter worth about $3,547,000. Citigroup Inc. raised its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 39.8% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 99,453 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,968,000 after purchasing an additional 28,329 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 21.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 257,585 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,278,000 after purchasing an additional 44,855 shares during the last quarter. A. D. Beadell Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the 4th quarter worth about $1,432,000. Finally, Perigon Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the 4th quarter worth about $958,000. 74.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WTRG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group upgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $41.00 to $43.00 in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Argus upgraded shares of Essential Utilities to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.80.

Essential Utilities Stock Up 0.0%

WTRG stock opened at $37.52 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $10.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.04 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 12 month low of $36.10 and a 12 month high of $42.37. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $38.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.83.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $861.76 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $782.90 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 21.82% and a return on equity of 8.34%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Company 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.