Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation, two have given a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $43.80.

WTRG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Essential Utilities to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 4th. Barclays increased their price objective on Essential Utilities from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a research note on Friday, May 22nd.

Institutional Trading of Essential Utilities

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Essential Utilities during the 4th quarter valued at $154,176,000. Amundi boosted its stake in Essential Utilities by 33.4% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 6,335,695 shares of the company’s stock worth $243,023,000 after purchasing an additional 1,586,622 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Essential Utilities by 611.4% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,744,679 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,258,000 after purchasing an additional 1,499,450 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 1,651.9% during the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 1,551,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,517,000 after purchasing an additional 1,462,971 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 3,650.7% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,255,212 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,150,000 after purchasing an additional 1,221,746 shares during the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Essential Utilities Stock Up 0.1%

NYSE WTRG opened at $39.64 on Friday. Essential Utilities has a 1-year low of $36.10 and a 1-year high of $42.37. The company has a market capitalization of $11.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.12 and a beta of 0.65. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $37.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last issued its 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 company had revenue of $861.76 million during 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 quarterly revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Essential Utilities will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.