Aurora Private Wealth Inc. Invests $526,000 in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

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

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. American National Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the first quarter valued at $35,000. IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 75.0% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,104 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 473 shares during the last quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, CX Institutional acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the 1st quarter worth about $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.78% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on WTRG shares. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Essential Utilities from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, April 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $43.50.

Essential Utilities Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of Essential Utilities stock traded up $0.12 during trading on Friday, hitting $37.09. The company's stock had a trading volume of 346,201 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,521,277. The stock has a market cap of $10.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.81. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 52 week low of $33.18 and a 52 week high of $41.78. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $38.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.57.

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