Aurora Private Wealth Inc. Acquires New Stake in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Aurora Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 13,298 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $526,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Bfsg LLC lifted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 22.1% during the first quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 1,453 shares of the company's stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 24,652 shares of the company's stock worth $895,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. lifted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 1.3% during the first quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 23,928 shares of the company's stock worth $946,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. Apella Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 4.4% in the first quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 7,914 shares of the company's stock worth $299,000 after acquiring an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 38,652 shares of the company's stock worth $1,404,000 after acquiring an additional 356 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WTRG. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Essential Utilities from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, April 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $43.50.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WTRG traded down $0.02 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $36.95. The stock had a trading volume of 2,645,427 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,532,811. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $38.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.72. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 1-year low of $33.18 and a 1-year high of $41.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.57, a PEG ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.65.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.23. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 27.17% and a return on equity of 9.81%. The company had revenue of $783.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $713.80 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.97 earnings per share. Essential Utilities's revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Profile

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.