Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG Shares Sold by Pictet Asset Management Holding SA

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lowered its stake in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 20.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,605,451 shares of the company’s stock after selling 934,526 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned approximately 1.27% of Essential Utilities worth $145,204,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of WTRG. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,833,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $530,641,000 after purchasing an additional 241,176 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 33.4% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 6,335,695 shares of the company’s stock valued at $243,023,000 after purchasing an additional 1,586,622 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Essential Utilities by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,233,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $200,197,000 after purchasing an additional 120,947 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Essential Utilities by 19.0% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,149,063 shares of the company’s stock worth $159,158,000 after purchasing an additional 662,334 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Essential Utilities by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,142,709 shares of the company’s stock worth $158,914,000 after buying an additional 35,662 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities Stock Down 0.2%

WTRG stock opened at $38.58 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $37.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.73. The company has a market cap of $10.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.58 and a beta of 0.66. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 12-month low of $36.10 and a 12-month high of $42.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.83 EPS 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 company had revenue of $861.76 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $782.90 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on WTRG. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Argus raised shares of Essential Utilities to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $41.00 to $43.00 in a report on Friday, May 29th. Two equities 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 issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.80.

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.