Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC Decreases Holdings in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC decreased its position in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 28.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,971,886 shares of the company’s stock after selling 782,706 shares during the quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC owned 0.70% of Essential Utilities worth $75,642,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. GoalVest Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp raised its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 1,163.8% during the 3rd quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 733 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares during the last quarter. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac acquired a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 31,466.7% during the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 947 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 944 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 43.6% during the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,114 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on WTRG shares. 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 research report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, UBS Group upgraded 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. Two investment 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.80.

Essential Utilities Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of NYSE WTRG opened at $36.22 on Tuesday. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 52-week low of $36.10 and a 52-week high of $42.37. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $38.86 and a 200-day moving average of $38.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.27 billion, a PE ratio of 18.39 and a beta of 0.66. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data 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). 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 period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Company 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.