Magellan Asset Management Ltd Raises Holdings in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

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

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WTRG. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Essential Utilities during the 4th quarter valued at $154,176,000. Amundi increased its position 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 buying an additional 1,586,622 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 611.4% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,744,679 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,258,000 after acquiring an additional 1,499,450 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 1,651.9% in the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 1,551,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,517,000 after acquiring an additional 1,462,971 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 3,650.7% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,255,212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,150,000 after acquiring an additional 1,221,746 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Essential Utilities Stock Down 1.3%

WTRG stock opened at $38.89 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $37.75 and a two-hundred 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 capitalization of $11.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.74 and a beta of 0.65. Essential Utilities Inc. has a one year low of $36.10 and a one year high of $42.37.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.07). Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 8.34% and a net margin of 21.82%.The business had revenue of $861.76 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $782.90 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.03 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.21 EPS for the current 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.