Teacher Retirement System of Texas Acquires New Stake in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new stake in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 38,132 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,507,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in Essential Utilities during the 4th quarter worth approximately $638,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Essential Utilities during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,621,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Essential Utilities during the 4th quarter worth approximately $7,383,000. Independent Advisor Alliance acquired a new position in Essential Utilities during the 4th quarter worth approximately $388,000. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Essential Utilities during the 4th quarter worth approximately $234,000. 74.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of WTRG stock traded down $0.25 during trading on Friday, hitting $37.29. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,401,945 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,548,952. The company has a market cap of $10.45 billion, a PE ratio of 16.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The business has a fifty day moving average of $38.15 and a 200-day moving average of $37.72. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 52 week low of $33.18 and a 52 week high of $41.78.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.97 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WTRG. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target 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 raised Essential Utilities from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, April 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus 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.