Bank of New York Mellon Corp Sells 59,004 Shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lowered its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) by 2.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,672,007 shares of the company's stock after selling 59,004 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 0.97% of Essential Utilities worth $105,624,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. IFM Investors Pty Ltd grew its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 93,296 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,598,000 after acquiring an additional 3,462 shares during the period. Aurora Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $526,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 15,034 shares of the company's stock valued at $594,000 after acquiring an additional 1,179 shares during the period. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,045,060 shares of the company's stock valued at $80,841,000 after acquiring an additional 18,353 shares during the period. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,507,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.78% of the company's stock.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

WTRG stock traded down $0.25 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $37.29. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,401,945 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,548,952. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 12 month low of $33.18 and a 12 month high of $41.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a 50 day moving average of $38.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.72.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $783.63 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $713.80 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 9.81% and a net margin of 27.17%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.97 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on WTRG shares. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Essential Utilities from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Essential Utilities from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, April 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $43.50.

About Essential Utilities

Essential Utilities, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates regulated utilities that provide water, wastewater, or natural gas services in the United States. The company operates through Regulated Water and Regulated Natural Gas segments. It offers water services through operating and maintenance contract with municipal authorities and other parties.