Magnetar Financial LLC Increases Stock Position in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Magnetar Financial LLC increased its position in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 6,508.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,199,090 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,180,945 shares during the quarter. Essential Utilities accounts for 0.5% of Magnetar Financial LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Magnetar Financial LLC owned 0.42% of Essential Utilities worth $45,997,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. GoalVest Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac purchased a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its holdings in Essential Utilities by 31,466.7% in the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 947 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 944 shares in the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Essential Utilities Trading Up 1.0%

WTRG opened at $37.92 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.75 billion, a PE ratio of 19.25 and a beta of 0.66. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $38.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.81. 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 12-month low of $36.10 and a 12-month 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 for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.07). The business 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current fiscal 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.