Flputnam Investment Management Co. Has $20.93 Million Position in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Flputnam Investment Management Co. lifted its stake in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 545,708 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,412 shares during the period. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $20,933,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 2.8% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,246,084 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,246,719,000 after purchasing an additional 838,450 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 5.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,591,999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $542,321,000 after purchasing an additional 641,743 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 19.5% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,539,977 shares of the company’s stock valued at $174,163,000 after acquiring an additional 741,587 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 19.0% in the fourth 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 587.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,071,929 shares of the company’s stock valued at $162,472,000 after acquiring an additional 3,479,762 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

WTRG opened at $37.15 on Wednesday. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 52 week low of $36.32 and a 52 week high of $42.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.54 billion, a PE ratio of 18.86 and a beta of 0.67. 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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $39.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.05.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $861.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $782.90 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.03 EPS. Essential Utilities’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WTRG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Friday. Argus upgraded Essential Utilities to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, UBS Group set a $41.00 price target on Essential Utilities in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $42.40.

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.