Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) Rating Increased to Sell at Wall Street Zen

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen to a “sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the company. Argus raised Essential Utilities to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.40.

Essential Utilities Stock Down 0.1%

WTRG stock opened at $39.33 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $11.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.96 and a beta of 0.65. Essential Utilities has a 52 week low of $36.10 and a 52 week high of $42.37. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $37.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.76. 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 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 company had revenue of $861.76 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $782.90 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Essential Utilities will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essential Utilities

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter worth about $154,176,000. Amundi grew its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 33.4% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 6,335,695 shares of the company’s stock valued at $243,023,000 after purchasing an additional 1,586,622 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of 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 valued at $70,258,000 after purchasing an additional 1,499,450 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 1,651.9% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 3,650.7% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.