Capital Innovations LLC Purchases Shares of 36,596 Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Capital Innovations LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 36,596 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,404,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in Essential Utilities during the 4th quarter valued at $638,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 7.8% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 12,861 shares of the company’s stock worth $508,000 after purchasing an additional 928 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 1.8% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 29,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,173,000 after purchasing an additional 530 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 122.7% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 943,797 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,308,000 after purchasing an additional 519,933 shares during the period. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth raised its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 4.9% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 22,322 shares of the company’s stock valued at $882,000 after purchasing an additional 1,044 shares in the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essential Utilities Stock Up 2.2%

Shares of WTRG stock opened at $37.06 on Wednesday. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 1 year low of $36.10 and a 1 year high of $42.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.95. The business’s fifty day moving average is $38.86 and its 200-day moving average is $38.97. The stock has a market cap of $10.51 billion, a PE ratio of 18.81 and a beta of 0.66.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.07). Essential Utilities had a net margin of 21.82% and a return on equity of 8.34%. The firm had revenue of $861.76 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $782.90 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.03 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WTRG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group raised shares of Essential Utilities from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $41.00 to $43.00 in a report on Friday. Argus upgraded shares of Essential Utilities to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.80.

About Essential Utilities

Essential Utilities, Inc, formerly known as Aqua America, is a publicly traded water and natural gas utility holding company. Through its regulated water and wastewater subsidiaries, the company provides essential water services to residential, commercial and industrial customers. In addition, Essential Utilities delivers natural gas distribution services in Pennsylvania through its Peoples Gas subsidiary, offering integrated utility solutions under a unified corporate framework.

The company traces its roots to the Philadelphia Suburban Water Company, founded in 1886 to serve growing communities outside Philadelphia.