Synergy Asset Management LLC Decreases Stake in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Synergy Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) by 13.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 128,722 shares of the company's stock after selling 19,287 shares during the period. Synergy Asset Management LLC's holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $5,088,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,061,135 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,091,820,000 after acquiring an additional 2,245,256 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its position in Essential Utilities by 31.2% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 6,726,215 shares of the company's stock worth $244,296,000 after acquiring an additional 1,597,672 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Essential Utilities by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,317,312 shares of the company's stock valued at $156,526,000 after purchasing an additional 11,336 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,690,116 shares of the company's stock valued at $134,025,000 after purchasing an additional 236,250 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 22.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,331,090 shares of the company's stock valued at $120,985,000 after purchasing an additional 601,026 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.78% of the company's stock.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

Shares of Essential Utilities stock traded down $0.77 on Wednesday, hitting $37.09. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,868,842 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,522,657. The company has a market capitalization of $10.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.81. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 1 year low of $33.18 and a 1 year high of $41.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.65. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $39.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.76.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $783.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $713.80 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 9.81% and a net margin of 27.17%. The business's revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.97 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on WTRG. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Essential Utilities from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, April 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essential Utilities presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $43.50.

Essential Utilities Company Profile

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.