Fifth Third Bancorp Increases Stock Position in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 1,464.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 69,908 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 65,439 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $2,815,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Essential Utilities by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,833,175 shares of the company’s stock worth $530,641,000 after acquiring an additional 241,176 shares during the period. Amundi increased its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 33.4% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 6,335,695 shares of the company’s stock valued at $243,023,000 after buying an additional 1,586,622 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,233,715 shares of the company’s stock valued at $200,197,000 after buying an additional 120,947 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its stake in Essential Utilities by 19.5% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,539,977 shares of the company’s stock worth $174,163,000 after buying an additional 741,587 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in Essential Utilities by 19.0% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,149,063 shares of the company’s stock worth $159,158,000 after buying an additional 662,334 shares in the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

Shares of WTRG opened at $39.39 on Tuesday. Essential Utilities Inc. has a twelve month low of $36.10 and a twelve month high of $42.37. The company has a market capitalization of $11.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.00 and a beta of 0.65. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $37.73 and a 200 day moving average of $38.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.83 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 business 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 business posted $1.03 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Argus raised Essential Utilities to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Barclays upped their price target on Essential Utilities from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised Essential Utilities to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Essential Utilities has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.80.

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.