Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Buys New Position in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 9,264 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $366,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WTRG. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter valued at $638,000. abrdn plc raised its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 76.4% during the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 175,721 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,337,000 after purchasing an additional 76,091 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 55,507 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,016,000 after purchasing an additional 698 shares during the period. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 77,700 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,822,000 after purchasing an additional 902 shares during the period. Finally, First National Corp MA ADV raised its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 81.5% during the 4th quarter. First National Corp MA ADV now owns 28,891 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,049,000 after purchasing an additional 12,976 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.78% of the company's stock.

Essential Utilities Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:WTRG opened at $37.65 on Monday. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 52-week low of $33.18 and a 52-week high of $41.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.81. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $39.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.55.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The company reported $1.03 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $783.63 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $713.80 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.97 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on WTRG shares. Evercore ISI boosted 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded Essential Utilities from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, April 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Essential Utilities from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Essential Utilities from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essential Utilities has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $43.50.

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.

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