Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) Cut to Equal Weight at Wells Fargo & Company

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Finviz reports. They currently have a $39.00 price target on the stock, down from their prior price target of $43.00. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective suggests a potential upside of 10.23% from the stock’s previous close.

WTRG has been the subject of several other research reports. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Essential Utilities in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $44.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.20.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

Essential Utilities stock opened at $35.38 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.69, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.86. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $38.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.88. Essential Utilities has a 52 week low of $33.57 and a 52 week high of $41.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $435.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $416.95 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 7.89% and a net margin of 27.84%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.30 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities will post 2.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Essential Utilities

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WTRG. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its position in Essential Utilities by 4,309.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,255,483 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,424,000 after acquiring an additional 1,227,010 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its position in Essential Utilities by 117.3% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,962,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,701,000 after acquiring an additional 1,059,320 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Essential Utilities by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 6,811,851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $247,134,000 after acquiring an additional 972,803 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Essential Utilities in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,842,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Essential Utilities by 33.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 953,984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,795,000 after acquiring an additional 237,096 shares during the period. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Essential Utilities

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.