Natixis Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 15.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 242,414 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 33,346 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Essential Utilities worth $9,299,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WTRG. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the 4th quarter valued at $154,176,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake 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 in the last quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd acquired a new position in Essential Utilities in the third quarter valued at $128,137,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 1,572.4% during the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,271,201 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,212,000 after purchasing an additional 1,195,189 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 121.8% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,591,706 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,697,000 after purchasing an additional 873,990 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities Stock Up 0.1%

WTRG stock opened at $37.40 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.61 billion, a PE ratio of 18.99 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a fifty day moving average of $38.64 and a 200-day moving average of $38.90. 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 Inc. has a one year low of $36.10 and a one year high of $42.37.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $861.76 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $782.90 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 8.34% and a net margin of 21.82%.The company’s revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Friday, May 22nd. UBS Group upgraded Essential Utilities from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $41.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Argus raised Essential Utilities to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essential Utilities presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.80.

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.