Swiss National Bank Cuts Holdings in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Swiss National Bank trimmed its position in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) by 25.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 560,400 shares of the company's stock after selling 186,600 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.20% of Essential Utilities worth $22,567,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac bought a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new stake in Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in Essential Utilities by 111.1% in the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,030 shares of the company's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 542 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.78% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on WTRG shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Barclays lifted their target price on Essential Utilities from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Essential Utilities to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $43.80.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WTRG opened at $39.62 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.81. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 1-year low of $36.10 and a 1-year high of $42.37. The firm has a market cap of $11.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.11 and a beta of 0.65.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $861.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $782.90 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current year.

About Essential Utilities

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.

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