Principal Financial Group Inc. Reduces Stake in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) by 2.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 706,302 shares of the company's stock after selling 19,179 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.26% of Essential Utilities worth $27,920,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WTRG. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. acquired a new position in Essential Utilities in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. American National Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Essential Utilities in the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. CX Institutional acquired a new position in Essential Utilities in the first quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. 74.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WTRG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Essential Utilities from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Wall Street Zen raised 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $43.50.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

NYSE:WTRG traded down $0.25 during trading on Friday, reaching $37.29. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,400,227 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,554,171. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 12 month low of $33.18 and a 12 month 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 50 day moving average of $38.22 and a 200-day moving average of $37.71. The firm has a market cap 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.

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

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.