Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Lowers Stock Position in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS cut its stake in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 10.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 503,182 shares of the company’s stock after selling 56,263 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $20,263,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Midwest Trust Co bought a new position in Essential Utilities in the first quarter valued at $205,000. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in Essential Utilities by 1,464.3% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 69,908 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,815,000 after purchasing an additional 65,439 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 24.7% in the 1st quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 37,572 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,513,000 after purchasing an additional 7,432 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 57,988 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,335,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Praxis Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Praxis Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,832 shares of the company’s stock valued at $678,000 after purchasing an additional 862 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on WTRG shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Argus raised Essential Utilities to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Essential Utilities to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 4th. Two 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 company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.40.

Essential Utilities Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:WTRG opened at $38.60 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.59 and a beta of 0.65. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $37.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.77. 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $36.10 and a 12-month 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). Essential Utilities had a net margin of 21.82% and a return on equity of 8.34%. The company had revenue of $861.76 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $782.90 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Utilities Company 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.