Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) Stock Holdings Increased by Banque Cantonale Vaudoise

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise increased its holdings in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG – Get Rating) by 7.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,260 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 745 shares during the quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $490,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter worth approximately $219,000. EagleClaw Capital Managment LLC increased its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. EagleClaw Capital Managment LLC now owns 9,512 shares of the company’s stock worth $511,000 after acquiring an additional 710 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 57.8% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 24,589 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,191,000 after acquiring an additional 9,004 shares in the last quarter. Dupont Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC purchased a new position in Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $226,000. 69.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on WTRG shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $54.00 price objective on shares of Essential Utilities in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 28th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $54.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Monday, February 6th. Northcoast Research cut shares of Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Essential Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Essential Utilities presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.38.

Insider Transactions at Essential Utilities

In related news, CEO Chris Franklin bought 37,245 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 8th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $40.70 per share, for a total transaction of $1,515,871.50. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 37,245 shares in the company, valued at $1,515,871.50. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

Shares of Essential Utilities stock opened at $40.16 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 1-year low of $38.50 and a 1-year high of $52.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.21, a PEG ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.79.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 8th. The company reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.02). Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 8.48% and a net margin of 19.75%. The firm had revenue of $726.45 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $682.87 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.76 earnings per share. Essential Utilities’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.86 earnings per share for the current year.

About Essential Utilities

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Essential Utilities, Inc is a holding company, which engages in providing water, wastewater and natural gas services through its subsidiaries. It operates through the Regulated Water and Regulated Natural Gas segments. The Regulated Water segment includes water and wastewater regulated utility companies.