Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG Shares Bought by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,747,272 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 38,224 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $105,385,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WTRG. GoalVest Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac purchased a new position in Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp lifted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 1,163.8% in the third quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 733 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 675 shares during the period. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted 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 during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in Essential Utilities by 43.6% in 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of WTRG opened at $37.40 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $10.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.99 and a beta of 0.66. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 12 month low of $36.10 and a 12 month high of $42.37. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $38.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.90. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.07). Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 8.34% and a net margin of 21.82%.The business had revenue of $861.76 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $782.90 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WTRG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group raised shares of Essential Utilities from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $41.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of 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. According to MarketBeat, Essential Utilities currently has an average 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.