Essential Utilities (WTRG) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE: WTRG), formerly known as Aqua America, is a publicly traded provider of water, wastewater and natural gas utility services in the United States. The company operates through a network of regulated utility subsidiaries that deliver safe, reliable water and wastewater treatment to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Through its natural gas segment, Essential Utilities offers distribution services in selected markets, connecting customers to local pipeline infrastructure and providing pipeline safety and maintenance programs.

The company’s water and wastewater operations span a multi-state footprint in the Northeast, Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions. Essential Utilities serves communities in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Illinois, Ohio, Texas and additional states, partnering with municipal governments and local authorities to manage and upgrade critical infrastructure. Its services encompass water sourcing, treatment, distribution, collection and disposal, as well as customer support, leak detection and meter reading.

Founded in 1886 as a regional water provider, the organization undertook significant growth through mergers and acquisitions over more than a century. In 2018, the company completed the acquisition of Peoples Natural Gas, expanding its energy portfolio. In 2020, the parent entity was renamed Essential Utilities to reflect its dual focus on water and gas utilities. The company maintains an ongoing capital investment program to modernize pipelines, treatment plants and storage facilities in order to meet regulatory standards and support population growth in its service areas.

Essential Utilities is led by President and Chief Executive Officer Christopher A. Franklin, who has more than 25 years of experience in the utility sector. The executive team emphasizes operational excellence, environmental stewardship and community engagement. With a commitment to sustainable practices and regulatory compliance, Essential Utilities continues to prioritize infrastructure resilience, water quality and customer service across its diversified utility portfolio.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $37.05 to $37.53
• 50-Day Range: $36.82 to $41.40
• 52-Week Range: $33.18 to $41.78
• Volume: 1.40 million shs
• Average Volume: 1.55 million shs
• Market Capitalization: $10.45 billion
• P/E Ratio: 16.72
• Dividend Yield: 3.49%
• Price Target: $43.50
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy

Essential Utilities Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

Essential Utilities scored higher than 96% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 4th out of 99 stocks in the utilities sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 2.4 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Moderate Buy

Consensus Rating

Essential Utilities has received a consensus rating of Moderate Buy. The company's average rating score is 2.83, and is based on 5 buy ratings, 1 hold rating, and no sell ratings.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

Essential Utilities has only been the subject of 1 research reports in the past 90 days.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 2.5 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 7.04%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for Essential Utilities are expected to grow by 7.04% in the coming year, from $1.99 to $2.13 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of Essential Utilities is 16.72, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 25.86.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of Essential Utilities is 16.72, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the Utilities sector average P/E ratio of about 20.08.

Price to Earnings Growth Ratio

Essential Utilities has a PEG Ratio of 3.44. PEG Ratios above 1 indicate that a company could be overvalued.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

Essential Utilities has a P/B Ratio of 1.65. P/B Ratios below 3 indicates that a company is reasonably valued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 4.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Healthy

Percentage of Shares Shorted

0.01% of the float of Essential Utilities has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Essential Utilities has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 7.3.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Essential Utilities has recently decreased by 99.51%, indicating that investor sentiment is improving significantly.

Dividend

• Score: 4.2 / 5
• Dividend Strength: Strong

Dividend Yield

Essential Utilities pays a meaningful dividend of 3.47%, higher than the bottom 25% of all stocks that pay dividends.

Dividend Growth

Essential Utilities has been increasing its dividend for 32 years.

Dividend Coverage

The dividend payout ratio of Essential Utilities is 58.30%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%.

Dividend Sustainability

Based on earnings estimates, Essential Utilities will have a dividend payout ratio of 61.03% next year. This indicates that Essential Utilities will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.

Sustainability and ESG

• Score: 3.1 / 5
• Environmental Score: -2.18

Percentage of Shares Shorted

0.01% of the float of Essential Utilities has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Essential Utilities has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 7.3.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Essential Utilities has recently decreased by 99.51%, indicating that investor sentiment is improving significantly.

News and Social Media

• Score: 2.4 / 5
• News Sentiment: 1.25

News Sentiment

Essential Utilities has a news sentiment score of 1.25. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This is a higher news sentiment than the 0.85 average news sentiment score of Utilities companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 7 news articles for Essential Utilities this week, compared to 9 articles on an average week.

Search Interest

Only 2 people have searched for WTRG on MarketBeat in the last 30 days. This is a decrease of -67% compared to the previous 30 days.

MarketBeat Follows

Only 3 people have added Essential Utilities to their MarketBeat watchlist in the last 30 days. This is a decrease of -25% compared to the previous 30 days.

Company Ownership

• Score: 1.7 / 5
• Insider Trading: N/A

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, Essential Utilities insiders have not sold or bought any company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

Only 0.21% of the stock of Essential Utilities is held by insiders.

Percentage Held by Institutions

74.78% of the stock of Essential Utilities is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.

WTRG Stock Analysis - Frequently Asked Questions

How have WTRG shares performed this year?

Essential Utilities' stock was trading at $36.32 at the beginning of 2025. Since then, WTRG stock has increased by 2.7% and is now trading at $37.29.

How were Essential Utilities' earnings last quarter?

Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) posted its earnings results on Monday, May, 12th. The company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.23. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year.
Read the conference call transcript.

Who are Essential Utilities' major shareholders?

Top institutional shareholders of Essential Utilities include Swedbank AB (0.13%), Assenagon Asset Management S.A. (0.05%), Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. (0.03%) and Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC (0.03%). Insiders that own company stock include Robert A Rubin, Chris Franklin, Ellen T Ruff and Colleen Arnold.
View institutional ownership trends.

How do I buy shares of Essential Utilities?

Shares of WTRG stock can be purchased through any online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages with access to the U.S. stock market include Charles Schwab, E*TRADE, Fidelity, and Vanguard Brokerage Services.

What other stocks do shareholders of Essential Utilities own?

Based on aggregate information from My MarketBeat watchlists, some other companies that Essential Utilities investors own include Humana (HUM), American Water Works (AWK), Waste Connections (WCN), Voyager Therapeutics (VYGR), The RMR Group (RMR), DiamondRock Hospitality (DRH) and AU Optronics (AUOTY).

Company Calendar

• Last Earnings: 5/12/2025
• Record date for 6/2 Dividend: 5/13/2025
• Ex-Dividend for 6/2 Dividend: 5/13/2025
• Dividend Payable: 6/02/2025
• Today: 7/13/2025
• Next Earnings (Estimated): 8/04/2025
• Fiscal Year End: 12/31/2025

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NYSE
• Sector: Utilities
• Industry: UTIL - WATER SPLY
• Sub-Industry: Utilities
• Current Symbol: NYSE:WTRG
• CIK: 78128
• Web: www.essential.co
• Phone: (610) 527-8000
• Fax: 610-645-1061
• Employees: 3,291
• Year Founded: N/A

Price Target and Rating

• Average Price Target for Essential Utilities: $43.50
• High Price Target: $46.00
• Low Price Target: $41.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: +16.7%
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy
• Rating Score (0-4): 2.83
• Research Coverage: 6 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Trailing Twelve Months): $2.23
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 16.72
• Forward P/E Ratio: 18.74
• P/E Growth: 3.44
• Net Income: $595.31 million
• Net Margins: 27.17%
• Pretax Margin: 25.76%
• Return on Equity: 9.81%
• Return on Assets: 3.45%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 1.16
• Current Ratio: 0.65
• Quick Ratio: 0.57

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $2.26 billion
• Price / Sales: 4.63
• Cash Flow: $3.31 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 11.26
• Book Value: $22.57 per share
• Price / Book: 1.65

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 280,338,000
• Free Float: 279,749,000
• Market Cap: $10.45 billion
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 0.79