Vise Technologies Inc. Invests $278,000 in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Vise Technologies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 7,652 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $278,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,061,135 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,091,820,000 after purchasing an additional 2,245,256 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased 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 valued at $244,296,000 after acquiring an additional 1,597,672 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Essential Utilities by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,317,312 shares of the company's stock valued at $156,526,000 after acquiring an additional 11,336 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Essential Utilities by 6.8% during 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 increased its holdings in Essential Utilities by 22.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,331,090 shares of the company's stock valued at $120,985,000 after acquiring an additional 601,026 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.78% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on WTRG. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, April 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $43.50.

Essential Utilities Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:WTRG traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $38.53. The company had a trading volume of 4,168,002 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,479,995. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $39.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.27, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.85. 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $783.63 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $713.80 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 7.89% and a net margin of 27.84%. Essential Utilities's quarterly revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.97 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.