Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) Shares Purchased by California State Teachers Retirement System

California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) by 12.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 953,574 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 105,590 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.35% of Essential Utilities worth $34,634,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Essential Utilities by 92.8% during the fourth quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 148,009 shares of the company's stock worth $5,529,000 after buying an additional 71,222 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter worth approximately $638,000. RWC Asset Management LLP purchased a new position in Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,119,000. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter worth approximately $504,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Essential Utilities by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,071,868 shares of the company's stock worth $75,250,000 after buying an additional 199,936 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.78% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Essential Utilities from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Wall Street Zen raised Essential Utilities from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, April 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Essential Utilities from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $43.50.

Essential Utilities Stock Up 0.1%

WTRG traded up $0.02 on Monday, hitting $38.55. 1,105,114 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,478,496. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a twelve month low of $33.18 and a twelve month high of $41.78. The company has a market cap of $10.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $39.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.96.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.23. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 7.89% and a net margin of 27.84%. The firm had revenue of $783.63 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $713.80 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.97 EPS. Essential Utilities's revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Utilities Company 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.