Candriam S.C.A. Has $6.27 Million Position in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Candriam S.C.A. lessened its holdings in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 51.0% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 155,805 shares of the company’s stock after selling 162,229 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $6,274,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on WTRG shares. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised Essential Utilities to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 4th. Argus upgraded shares of Essential Utilities to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Two equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.40.

Essential Utilities Trading Up 0.1%

WTRG stock opened at $38.61 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.78. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 52 week low of $36.10 and a 52 week high of $42.37. The company has a market capitalization of $10.95 billion, a PE ratio of 19.60 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.95.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $782.90 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current year.

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.