J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Acquires 10,699 Shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) by 55.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 30,159 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 10,699 shares during the quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $1,192,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,061,135 shares of the company's stock worth $1,091,820,000 after purchasing an additional 2,245,256 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its holdings in Essential Utilities by 31.2% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 6,726,215 shares of the company's stock worth $244,296,000 after buying an additional 1,597,672 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Essential Utilities by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,317,312 shares of the company's stock valued at $156,526,000 after buying an additional 11,336 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 236,250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Essential Utilities by 22.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,331,090 shares of the company's stock worth $120,985,000 after purchasing an additional 601,026 shares during the period. 74.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Essential Utilities from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $43.50.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

NYSE:WTRG traded down $0.53 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $37.17. The stock had a trading volume of 1,708,359 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,687,168. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.67, a P/E/G ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.79. Essential Utilities Inc. has a one year low of $33.18 and a one year high of $41.78.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last issued 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. The company 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 in the prior year, the business posted $0.97 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.