IFM Investors Pty Ltd Has $807,000 Holdings in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

IFM Investors Pty Ltd lessened its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 72.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,049 shares of the company’s stock after selling 53,437 shares during the quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $807,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. GoalVest Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Essential Utilities in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac purchased a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 31,466.7% during the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 947 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 944 shares in the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Essential Utilities Stock Down 0.1%

WTRG opened at $39.33 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.96 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $37.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.77. Essential Utilities Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $36.10 and a fifty-two week 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 the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 21.82% and a return on equity of 8.34%. Essential Utilities’s revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.21 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on WTRG shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Argus raised Essential Utilities to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Essential Utilities to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday. Two 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 given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.40.

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.