Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Raises Stock Holdings in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 184.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 111,209 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 72,068 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $4,266,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WTRG. GoalVest Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp grew its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 1,163.8% during the third quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 733 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 31,466.7% during the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 947 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 944 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 43.6% during the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,114 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 338 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the third quarter worth about $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group set a $41.00 price objective on Essential Utilities in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Argus raised Essential Utilities to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $42.40.

Essential Utilities Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of WTRG opened at $37.47 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $10.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.02 and a beta of 0.67. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.84. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 1 year low of $36.32 and a 1 year high of $42.37.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $861.76 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $782.90 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 8.34% and a net margin of 21.82%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.03 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.