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

Aurora Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in 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. The firm purchased 13,298 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $526,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its holdings in Essential Utilities by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 15,034 shares of the company's stock worth $594,000 after acquiring an additional 1,179 shares in the last quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Essential Utilities by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,045,060 shares of the company's stock worth $80,841,000 after acquiring an additional 18,353 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new position in Essential Utilities during the 1st quarter worth about $1,507,000. Ledgewood Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Essential Utilities during the 1st quarter worth about $206,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. bought a new position in Essential Utilities during the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.78% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on WTRG. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, April 20th. Robert W. Baird dropped 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essential Utilities presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $43.50.

Essential Utilities Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:WTRG traded down $0.29 during trading on Friday, reaching $36.82. The stock had a trading volume of 1,735,877 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,541,958. Essential Utilities Inc. has a one year low of $33.18 and a one year high of $41.78. The company has a market capitalization of $10.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.51, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $38.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.69.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $783.63 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $713.80 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 27.17% and a return on equity of 9.81%. Essential Utilities's revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.97 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.