Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Boosts Stock Position in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund boosted its stake in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 165.3% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 181,286 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 112,950 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $7,300,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of WTRG. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Essential Utilities by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,833,175 shares of the company’s stock worth $530,641,000 after purchasing an additional 241,176 shares during the last quarter. Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 33.4% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 6,335,695 shares of the company’s stock valued at $243,023,000 after buying an additional 1,586,622 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,233,715 shares of the company’s stock valued at $200,197,000 after purchasing an additional 120,947 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 19.5% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,539,977 shares of the company’s stock valued at $174,163,000 after acquiring an additional 741,587 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Essential Utilities by 19.0% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,149,063 shares of the company’s stock valued at $159,158,000 after buying an additional 662,334 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WTRG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Essential Utilities to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday. Argus raised Essential Utilities to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Two equities research 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 given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Essential Utilities has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.40.

Essential Utilities Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of WTRG opened at $39.33 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $37.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.96 and a beta of 0.65. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 12-month low of $36.10 and a 12-month high of $42.37.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $861.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $782.90 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 8.34% and a net margin of 21.82%.Essential Utilities’s revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Utilities 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.