Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Sells 41,138 Shares of Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lowered its position in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,136,823 shares of the company’s stock after selling 41,138 shares during the quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $43,609,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GoalVest Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac bought a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its position in Essential Utilities by 31,466.7% in the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 947 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 944 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in Essential Utilities by 43.6% in the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,114 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:WTRG opened at $37.52 on Monday. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 52-week low of $36.10 and a 52-week high of $42.37. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $38.31 and a 200 day moving average of $38.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.64 billion, a PE ratio of 19.04 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.95.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last announced 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 return on equity of 8.34% and a net margin of 21.82%.The company had revenue of $861.76 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $782.90 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Argus upgraded shares of Essential Utilities to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $41.00 to $43.00 in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.80.

Essential Utilities 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.