WTRG
Essential Utilities, Inc.
WTRG's fundamentals are mixed: it turned 39% of its revenue into free cash flow, but its operating margin fell 3 points to 36%. At 23x earnings, it's trading in line with its usual 24x. Analysts expect earnings growth.
WTRG Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Stable | |
| Healthy | |
| Strong | |
| Weak |
WTRG's profitability and cash flow are currently healthy, and its revenue is stable, but its balance sheet is weak.
WTRG PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 18x | $35.68 | -20% |
| Forward | 19x | $44.65 | — |
| Current | 23x | $44.65 | — |
| Fair | 24x | $46.87 | +5% |
| Expensive | 37x | $73.38 | +64% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
WTRG's PE is in its fair range at 23x. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 19x next year's earnings, in its cheap range.
WTRG Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Improving | |
| Growth | |
| Growth | |
| Weakening | |
| Limited | |
| Moderate |
Analysts expect earnings and revenue growth for WTRG, but weaker profitability.
WTRG Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $2.29 | +16% |
| Q3 2026 | $1.98 | -18% |
| Q2 2026 | $1.95 | -16% |
| Q1 2026 | $1.96 | -12% |
| Q4 2025 | $2.20 | +1.4% |
| Q3 2025 | $2.41 | +21% |
| Q2 2025 | $2.33 | +14% |
| Q1 2025 | $2.23 | +5.7% |
| Q4 2024 | $2.17 | +17% |
WTRG earned $1.98 per share over the past year, down 18% from the year before.
WTRG Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $508.3M | +6.6% |
| Q2 2026 | $530.9M | +3.1% |
| Q1 2026 | $861.8M | +10% |
| Q4 2025 | $699.1M | +16% |
| Q3 2025 | $477M | +9.6% |
| Q2 2025 | $514.9M | +19% |
| Q1 2025 | $783.6M | +28% |
| Q4 2024 | $604.4M | +26% |
WTRG's revenue has grown year over year for nine quarters in a row: $508M last quarter, up 6.6% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 38% | +2.3 points |
| Q2 2026 | 36% | +0.4 points |
| Q1 2026 | 36% | -7.2 points |
| Q4 2025 | 32% | -5 points |
| Q3 2025 | 36% | 0 points |
| Q2 2025 | 36% | +2.5 points |
| Q1 2025 | 43% | +5.6 points |
| Q4 2024 | 38% | +1.2 points |
WTRG's operating margin was 38% last quarter, up 2.3 points from the same quarter a year ago.
WTRG Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $229.2M | -1.4% |
| Q2 2026 | $323.6M | +19% |
| Q1 2026 | $265.4M | -11% |
| Q4 2025 | $206.1M | +39% |
| Q3 2025 | $232.5M | +19% |
| Q2 2025 | $272.3M | +47% |
| Q1 2025 | $299.5M | +24% |
| Q4 2024 | $147.8M | +15% |
WTRG's free cash flow has been positive every quarter for six years: $1B over the past year, up 7.6% from the year before.
WTRG Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +0.3% | +933K shares |
| 1 year | +1% | +2.7M shares |
| 3 years | +6.7% | +17.8M shares |
| 5 years | +9.9% | +25.6M shares |
| Available history | +32% | +69.1M shares |
WTRG has 285M diluted shares, up 1% from a year ago.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $1,000 |
| Q2 2026 | $20,000 |
| Q1 2026 | $2.9M |
| Q4 2025 | $9,000 |
| Q3 2025 | $38,000 |
| Q2 2025 | $3,000 |
| Q1 2025 | $2.2M |
| Q4 2024 | $1.8M |
WTRG has spent almost nothing on buybacks in the past year.
WTRG Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 6.2x | High |
| Q2 2026 | 6.3x | High |
| Q1 2026 | 6.3x | High |
| Q4 2025 | 6.1x | High |
| Q3 2025 | 5.9x | High |
| Q2 2025 | 6.0x | High |
| Q1 2025 | 6.1x | High |
| Q4 2024 | 6.7x | High |
WTRG's net debt is about 6.2 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA), up from 5.9 years a year ago.
WTRG Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 66.9 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 86.1 | Overbought |
WTRG's weekly RSI is 67 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 86 (overbought).
WTRG PE vs Utilities Sector
| Metric | WTRG | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 23x | 20x | 10% above |
| PE % | 47 | 44 | 3 pts above |
WTRG is trading at 23x earnings, a 10% premium to the Utilities sector's median of 20x.
WTRG Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $41.9 | 6.5% above |
| 20 week MA | $40.9 | 9.2% above |
| 50 week MA | $39.6 | 13% above |
| 100 week MA | $39.0 | 15% above |
| 200 week MA | $38.9 | 15% above |
WTRG is in an uptrend: it's above all five of its weekly moving averages, and 15% above its 200-week average.
WTRG Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $46.7 | $45.5 | -2.7% |
| 2021 | $45.5 | $52.2 | +15% |
| 2022 | $52.2 | $47.6 | -8.9% |
| 2023 | $47.6 | $37.4 | -21% |
| 2024 | $37.4 | $36.5 | -2.4% |
| 2025 | $36.5 | $38.6 | +5.8% |
| 2026 YTD | $38.6 | $44.7 | +16% |
WTRG has finished lower in four of the last six years. It's up 16% so far in 2026.