IFM Investors Pty Ltd Has $807,000 Position in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

IFM Investors Pty Ltd cut its stake in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 72.7% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 20,049 shares of the company’s stock after selling 53,437 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $807,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WTRG. Key Financial Inc grew its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 25,209 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,015,000 after purchasing an additional 1,407 shares during the last quarter. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Essential Utilities by 5.1% in the first quarter. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. now owns 213,511 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,598,000 after buying an additional 10,408 shares in the last quarter. Coston McIsaac & Partners grew its stake in Essential Utilities by 6.0% during the first quarter. Coston McIsaac & Partners now owns 122,079 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,916,000 after buying an additional 6,909 shares during the last quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. grew its stake in Essential Utilities by 0.7% during the first quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. now owns 81,052 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,264,000 after buying an additional 550 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Econ Financial Services Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the first quarter worth approximately $2,551,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on WTRG shares. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Argus upgraded Essential Utilities to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Essential Utilities to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Essential Utilities currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.40.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

Shares of WTRG stock opened at $39.33 on Monday. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 1 year low of $36.10 and a 1 year high of $42.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $37.68 and its 200-day moving average is $38.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.96 and a beta of 0.65.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $861.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $782.90 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 8.34% and a net margin of 21.82%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.21 EPS for the current fiscal 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.