Bank of America Corp DE decreased its stake in Aqua America, Inc. (NYSE:WTR) by 29.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 300,874 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 124,212 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned 0.17% of Aqua America worth $9,673,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its stake in Aqua America by 2.1% in the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 44,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,440,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the period. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO boosted its position in Aqua America by 8.0% in the first quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 41,506 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,334,000 after buying an additional 3,063 shares in the last quarter. First National Bank & Trust Co. of Newtown boosted its position in Aqua America by 2.3% in the first quarter. First National Bank & Trust Co. of Newtown now owns 154,161 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,955,000 after buying an additional 3,533 shares in the last quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLC boosted its position in Aqua America by 1.5% in the first quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLC now owns 146,821 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,720,000 after buying an additional 2,192 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TNB Financial purchased a new position in Aqua America during the first quarter worth approximately $301,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.44% of the company’s stock.
Shares of Aqua America, Inc. (WTR) opened at 33.45 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $33.28 and its 200 day moving average is $32.03. Aqua America, Inc. has a 52-week low of $28.03 and a 52-week high of $34.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.94 billion, a PE ratio of 25.63 and a beta of 0.53.
Aqua America (NYSE:WTR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, missing the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.02. Aqua America had a return on equity of 12.62% and a net margin of 28.41%. The business had revenue of $187.79 million for the quarter. Equities analysts expect that Aqua America, Inc. will post $1.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
WTR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BidaskClub upgraded shares of Aqua America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 15th. Zacks Investment Research lowered shares of Aqua America from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 4th. Finally, Northcoast Research began coverage on shares of Aqua America in a report on Thursday, May 25th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. The stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.25.
In other Aqua America news, Director Richard H. Glanton sold 4,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.83, for a total value of $137,886.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $72,455.81. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Richard Scott Fox sold 5,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.89, for a total value of $189,117.50. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 18,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $617,937.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
About Aqua America
Aqua America, Inc is a holding company. The Company is engaged in providing water or wastewater services concentrated in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas, Illinois, North Carolina, New Jersey, Indiana and Virginia. The Company is the holding company for its primary subsidiary, Aqua Pennsylvania, Inc Its market-based activities are conducted through Aqua Resources, Inc (Aqua Resources) and Aqua Infrastructure, LLC (Aqua Infrastructure).
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