28,525 Shares in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) Purchased by Oak Thistle LLC

Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 28,525 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,128,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter valued at about $102,600,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Essential Utilities by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,061,135 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,091,820,000 after acquiring an additional 2,245,256 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its position 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 valued at $244,296,000 after acquiring an additional 1,597,672 shares in the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. bought a new stake in Essential Utilities during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $52,355,000. Finally, Ensign Peak Advisors Inc boosted its position in Essential Utilities by 74.6% during the 4th quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 1,593,053 shares of the company's stock valued at $57,860,000 after acquiring an additional 680,760 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.78% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on WTRG. Wall Street Zen cut Essential Utilities from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Essential Utilities from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Essential Utilities currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $43.50.

Essential Utilities Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE WTRG traded down $0.10 during trading on Friday, reaching $37.07. The company had a trading volume of 1,202,245 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,682,345. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 12-month low of $33.18 and a 12-month high of $41.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The business's 50-day moving average is $37.78 and its 200 day moving average is $37.79. The stock has a market cap of $10.39 billion, a PE ratio of 16.62, a P/E/G ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.79.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 12th. The company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $783.63 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $713.80 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 27.17% and a return on equity of 9.81%. Essential Utilities's revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.97 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.