Argus Upgrades Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) to “Strong-Buy”

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) was upgraded by equities researchers at Argus to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on WTRG. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Barclays set a $38.00 price objective on shares of Essential Utilities and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Northcoast Research raised shares of Essential Utilities from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.20.

Essential Utilities Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of WTRG opened at $39.70 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $11.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.96 and a beta of 0.82. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $39.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.15. Essential Utilities has a 52-week low of $36.32 and a 52-week high of $42.37.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.11. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 9.18% and a net margin of 24.91%.The company had revenue of $699.11 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $611.60 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.67 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Essential Utilities will post 1.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essential Utilities

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in Essential Utilities during the 4th quarter worth about $638,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 12,861 shares of the company’s stock valued at $508,000 after purchasing an additional 928 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 29,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,173,000 after buying an additional 530 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 122.7% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 943,797 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,308,000 after buying an additional 519,933 shares during the period. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth raised its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 4.9% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 22,322 shares of the company’s stock worth $882,000 after buying an additional 1,044 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

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.