Quantinno Capital Management LP Raises Stock Position in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) by 59.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,327 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 7,171 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP's holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $702,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,061,135 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,091,820,000 after purchasing an additional 2,245,256 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 31.2% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 6,726,215 shares of the company's stock valued at $244,296,000 after purchasing an additional 1,597,672 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,317,312 shares of the company's stock valued at $156,526,000 after purchasing an additional 11,336 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,690,116 shares of the company's stock valued at $134,025,000 after purchasing an additional 236,250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 22.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,331,090 shares of the company's stock valued at $120,985,000 after purchasing an additional 601,026 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.78% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in 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 decreased 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. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Essential Utilities from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $43.50.

Essential Utilities Trading Down 0.5%

WTRG traded down $0.18 on Thursday, hitting $37.94. The company had a trading volume of 605,580 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,465,233. The firm has a market cap of $10.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.97, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.85. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 1 year low of $33.18 and a 1 year high of $41.78. The company's fifty day moving average price is $39.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 12th. The company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $783.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $713.80 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 27.84% and a return on equity of 7.89%. Essential Utilities's revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current 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.