CenterBook Partners LP Sells 7,449 Shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

CenterBook Partners LP trimmed its holdings in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) by 39.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,580 shares of the company's stock after selling 7,449 shares during the quarter. CenterBook Partners LP's holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $458,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Essential Utilities in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Essential Utilities in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. acquired a new stake in Essential Utilities in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. American National Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Essential Utilities in the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, CX Institutional purchased a new stake in Essential Utilities during the first quarter valued at about $42,000. 74.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on WTRG. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of 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 downgraded Essential Utilities from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $43.50.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of WTRG traded up $0.25 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $37.65. The company's stock had a trading volume of 395,778 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,681,150. Essential Utilities Inc. has a one year low of $33.18 and a one year high of $41.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.55 billion, a PE ratio of 16.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.79. The stock's 50-day moving average is $37.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.77.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last issued 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. The firm had revenue of $783.63 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $713.80 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 9.81% and a net margin of 27.17%. Essential Utilities's quarterly revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.97 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current 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.