Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Boosts Stock Holdings in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise boosted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG – Get Rating) by 7.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,260 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 745 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $490,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. EWG Elevate Inc. purchased a new position in Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Sandy Spring Bank raised its stake in Essential Utilities by 371.3% during the fourth quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 773 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 609 shares during the period. Romano Brothers AND Company purchased a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the 1st quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.96% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essential Utilities news, CEO Chris Franklin purchased 37,245 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $40.70 per share, with a total value of $1,515,871.50. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 37,245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,515,871.50. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

Shares of WTRG stock opened at $40.16 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $10.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.21, a P/E/G ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.52. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 1-year low of $38.50 and a 1-year high of $52.42. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $42.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $45.16.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 8th. The company reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $726.45 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $682.87 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 8.48% and a net margin of 19.75%. Essential Utilities’s revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.76 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WTRG. Northcoast Research downgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 28th. UBS Group raised shares of Essential Utilities from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $54.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Monday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $54.00 price target on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Thursday, March 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.38.

Essential Utilities Company Profile

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Essential Utilities, Inc is a holding company, which engages in providing water, wastewater and natural gas services through its subsidiaries. It operates through the Regulated Water and Regulated Natural Gas segments. The Regulated Water segment includes water and wastewater regulated utility companies.