Arizona State Retirement System Grows Stock Holdings in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG – Free Report) by 2.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 72,443 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,944 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $3,162,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter valued at $219,000. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. increased its position in Essential Utilities by 1.8% during the first quarter. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. now owns 40,444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,765,000 after acquiring an additional 725 shares during the last quarter. EagleClaw Capital Managment LLC increased its position in Essential Utilities by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. EagleClaw Capital Managment LLC now owns 9,512 shares of the company’s stock valued at $511,000 after acquiring an additional 710 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Essential Utilities by 57.8% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 24,589 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,191,000 after acquiring an additional 9,004 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in Essential Utilities by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 856,997 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,904,000 after acquiring an additional 119,140 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.17% of the company’s stock.

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Essential Utilities Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE WTRG opened at $40.86 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $40.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The stock has a market cap of $10.80 billion, a PE ratio of 23.62, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.77. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.50 and a 12 month high of $52.42.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 8th. The company reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $726.45 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $682.87 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 8.48% and a net margin of 19.75%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.76 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essential Utilities news, President Colleen Arnold sold 1,244 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.84, for a total transaction of $52,048.96. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 7,796 shares in the company, valued at approximately $326,184.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 4th. Northcoast Research cut shares of Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essential Utilities currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.57.

About Essential Utilities

(Free Report)

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.

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