Penserra Capital Management LLC Purchases New Shares in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Penserra Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 9,961 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $393,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter worth $638,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter worth about $1,621,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter worth about $7,383,000. Independent Advisor Alliance bought a new position in Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter worth about $388,000. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new position in Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter worth about $234,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.78% of the company's stock.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of WTRG stock traded down $0.38 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $37.47. The stock had a trading volume of 1,270,083 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,548,745. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.57. Essential Utilities Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $33.18 and a fifty-two week high of $41.78. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $38.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.74. The firm has a market cap of $10.50 billion, a PE ratio of 16.80, a PEG ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.79.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last posted 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%. The company's revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.97 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WTRG. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, April 20th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $43.50.

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.