Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Has $2.26 Million Stock Position in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) by 13.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 57,120 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,970 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $2,258,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. American National Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, CX Institutional purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the 1st quarter valued at about $42,000. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Essential Utilities from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, April 20th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Essential Utilities from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Essential Utilities has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $43.50.

Essential Utilities Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of Essential Utilities stock traded up $0.06 on Thursday, reaching $37.31. 1,494,298 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,550,078. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $37.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.43 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. Essential Utilities Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $33.18 and a fifty-two week high of $41.78.

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