New York State Common Retirement Fund Acquires 19,868 Shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) by 3.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 563,272 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 19,868 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.20% of Essential Utilities worth $22,266,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. purchased a new position in Essential Utilities in the first quarter worth $33,000. American National Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Essential Utilities in the first quarter worth $35,000. Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Finally, CX Institutional purchased a new position in Essential Utilities in the first quarter worth $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.78% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. 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 research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Wall Street Zen lowered Essential Utilities from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday. One equities 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $43.50.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

Shares of WTRG stock traded up $0.13 during trading on Friday, hitting $37.42. The company had a trading volume of 2,627,317 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,553,090. 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 $10.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.79. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $37.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.75. 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 quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $783.63 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $713.80 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 27.17% and a return on equity of 9.81%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.97 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 1.99 EPS 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.