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Essential Utilities

WTRG NYSE Water Utilities Financials FY2016–FY2025

Essential Utilities' revenue rose 18.6% to $2.5 billion in fiscal 2025. Its operating margin was 37.2%, up from 36.3% a year earlier. Free cash flow was −$420 million. It paid out $376 million in dividends and buybacks. The diluted share count rose 2.3%.

Last close · Oct 23, 2026

$43.11

0.4%
Value it Compare
Revenue Total sales reported in the income statement.
$2.5B
18.6% vs prior year
Operating margin Operating income as a share of revenue.
37.2%
0.9 pts
Net income Profit after all expenses, interest and tax.
$616M
3.5%
Free cash flow Cash from operations minus capital spending.
−$420M
Return on capital After-tax operating income as a share of the money invested in the business: debt plus equity, minus cash.
6.4%
0.7 pts
Market cap Last close times the latest diluted share count, so it is approximate.
$12.2B
Oct 23 close
P/E Last close divided by diluted earnings per share over the last four quarters.
22.0x
On $1.96 EPS (TTM)

About these figures. Capital spending is Essential Utilities' property, plant and equipment additions, the main capital spending line in its cash flow statement, which its filings tag under a buildings label from 2017.

What Essential Utilities does

No business description yet.

Legal name
Essential Utilities, Inc.
Fiscal year ends
December 31, 2025
Latest annual report
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Accession · CIK
0000078128-26-000050
0000078128

Revenue and margins

Essential Utilities had $2.5B of revenue in fiscal 2025, up 18.6% on the year before.

Revenue
Revenue
Margins, % of revenue
Gross Operating Net FCF
Margins, % of revenue
Gross Operating Net FCF

Net income and earnings per share

From fiscal 2016 to 2025, diluted EPS grew 5.8% a year. Loss periods are shown in red.

Net income
Net income
Diluted EPS
Diluted EPS

Returns on capital

After-tax operating income as a share of the money invested in the business: debt plus equity, minus cash.

Return on capital, equity and assets (annual)
Return on capital Return on equity Return on assets

Cash flow

Free cash flow was −$420M in fiscal 2025, −17.0% of revenue. Cash from operations minus capital spending.

Free cash flow
Free cash flow
Cash from operations vs capital spending
Cash from operations Capital spending
Cash from operations vs capital spending
Cash from operations Capital spending

Dividends, buybacks and share count

Essential Utilities returned $376M to shareholders in fiscal 2025. The diluted share count rose 2.3%.

Dividends and buybacks
Dividends Buybacks
Dividends and buybacks
Dividends Buybacks
Diluted shares outstanding (annual)

Value Essential Utilities yourself

Change the assumptions and see what they imply per share. These are models, not forecasts or price targets — the answer depends entirely on what you put in.

Discounted cash flow

Value per share

—

Adds net cash of −$8.1B and divides by 280.6M diluted shares. Ten years of cash flows plus a terminal value, discounted to today.

Earnings multiple

Value per share

—

Reference multiples: today 22.0x · peers 22.5x · sector 20.4x.

Balance sheet

Cash, debt and the ratios that show how comfortably Essential Utilities can carry it.

Cash vs debt (incl. leases)
Cash Debt
Fiscal year endFY21FY22FY23FY24FY25
Cash and short-term investments $10.6M$11.4M$4.6M$9.2M$34.8M
Debt incl. finance leases $3.1B$3.1B$6.9B$7.5B$8.1B
Net debt / EBITDA 3.4x3.1x6.7x6.7x6.1x
Debt / equity 0.6x0.6x1.2x1.2x1.2x
Interest coverage 2.9x2.8x2.4x2.5x2.8x
Current ratio 0.7x0.6x0.6x0.5x0.8x
Quick ratio 0.7x0.6x0.6x0.5x0.8x
Total assets $14.7B$15.7B$16.8B$18.0B$19.5B
Total liabilities $9.5B$10.3B$10.9B$11.8B$12.6B
Shareholders' equity $5.2B$5.4B$5.9B$6.2B$6.9B
Net debt (− = net cash) $3.1B$3.1B$6.9B$7.5B$8.1B

Insider trades

Open-market purchases and sales by officers, directors and 10% owners, from Form 4 filings. 'Plan' marks trades under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan.

Bought, 12 months

$0.0M

0 insiders

Sold, 12 months

$0.1M

1 insider

Of sales under plans

0%

$0.0M

DateInsiderTradeSharesPriceValueFiling
Aug 7, 2026 Colleen ArnoldPresident - Aqua Sold 2,855 $39.55 $0.1M Form 4

Piotroski F-score

Nine pass/fail tests of profitability, funding and efficiency. 8–9 is strong, 0–2 weak.

TestFY23FY24FY25
Net income is positive ✓ ✓ ✓
Cash from operations is positive ✓ ✓ ✓
Return on assets rose ✕ ✓ ✕
Cash from operations exceeds net income ✓ ✓ ✓
Debt fell relative to assets ✕ ✕ ✕
Current ratio rose ✕ ✕ ✓
Share count didn't rise ✕ ✕ ✕
Gross margin rose — — —
Revenue rose relative to assets ✕ ✕ ✓
F-score 3 / 84 / 85 / 8
Accruals ratio −2.7%−1.0%−2.1%
Altman Z'' 1.051.011.22

Similar companies

Each company's latest fiscal year. Fiscal years end in different months, so periods don't line up exactly.

CompanyMarket capGrowthOp. marginFCF marginROICP/EF-score
Essential Utilities WTRG $12.2B 18.6% 37.2% −17.0% 6.4% 22.0x 5
American Water Works AWK $28.0B 9.7% 36.6% −20.8% 5.8% 24.7x 6 Compare →
California Water Service Group CWT $2.9B 6.4% 17.7% — 4.8% 21.6x 4 Compare →
H2O America HTO $2.3B 7.0% 22.2% — 4.9% 20.2x 4 Compare →
American States Water AWR $3.4B 10.5% 30.9% −1.1% 9.3% 23.4x 4 Compare →

10 years of figures

US$ millions unless stated. Hover a ratio's name for its definition.

Download CSV
Fiscal yearFY16FY17FY18FY19FY20FY21FY22FY23FY24FY25
Income statement
Revenue $820M $810M $838M $890M $1.5B $1.9B $2.3B $2.1B $2.1B $2.5B
Operating income $333M $334M $323M $340M $435M $603M $661M $692M $758M $921M
Interest expense $80.6M $88.5M $99.1M $125M $188M $208M $238M $283M $303M $329M
Pretax income $255M $257M $178M $212M $265M $422M $451M $432M $574M $620M
Income tax $21.0M $16.9M −$13.7M −$13.0M −$19.9M −$9.6M −$14.3M −$66.4M −$21.8M $3.4M
Net income $234M $240M $192M $225M $285M $432M $465M $498M $595M $616M
Diluted EPS $1.32 $1.35 $1.08 $1.04 $1.12 $1.67 $1.77 $1.86 $2.17 $2.20
Diluted shares 0.18B 0.18B 0.18B 0.22B 0.25B 0.26B 0.26B 0.27B 0.27B 0.28B
Cash flow
Cash from operations $396M $381M $369M $339M $508M $645M $600M $934M $770M $1.0B
Capital expenditure $383M $478M $496M $550M $836M $1.0B $1.1B $1.2B $1.3B $1.4B
Free cash flow $13.2M −$96.8M −$127M −$212M −$328M −$376M −$462M −$266M −$559M −$420M
Depreciation and amortization $133M $137M $147M $157M $257M $298M $321M $344M $370M $418M
Stock-based compensation $5.4M $6.3M $7.6M $7.4M $8.2M $10.1M $12.2M $11.3M $9.8M $12.9M
Acquisitions $0.0M $0.0M $0.0M $0.0M $0.0M $0.0M $0.0M $0.0M $0.0M $0.0M
Share buybacks $3.0M $2.2M $2.6M $1.9M $4.4M $3.3M $1.2M $4.0M $4.0M $2.3M
Dividends paid $131M $141M $151M $189M $233M $259M $289M $317M $346M $374M
Dividends and buybacks $134M $143M $153M $190M $237M $262M $290M $321M $350M $376M
Balance sheet
Cash and short-term investments $3.8M $4.2M $3.6M $1.9B $4.8M $10.6M $11.4M $4.6M $9.2M $34.8M
Total debt $1.2B $1.5B $1.6B $1.9B $3.0B $3.1B $3.1B $6.9B $7.5B $8.1B
Finance lease liabilities $0.0M $0.0M $0.0M $0.0M $0.0M $0.0M $0.0M $0.0M $0.0M $0.0M
Current assets $129M $131M $147M $2.0B $380M $438M $658M $492M $486M $610M
Current liabilities $302M $285M $399M $324M $604M $675M $1.0B $798M $975M $765M
Inventory $13.0M $14.4M $15.8M $18.4M $0.0M $0.0M $0.0M $0.0M $0.0M $0.0M
Property and equipment, net $5.0B $5.4B $5.9B $6.3B $9.5B $10.3B $11.1B $12.1B $13.1B $14.3B
Total assets $6.2B $6.3B $7.0B $9.4B $13.7B $14.7B $15.7B $16.8B $18.0B $19.5B
Total liabilities $4.3B $4.4B $5.0B $5.5B $9.0B $9.5B $10.3B $10.9B $11.8B $12.6B
Shareholders' equity $1.9B $2.0B $2.0B $3.9B $4.7B $5.2B $5.4B $5.9B $6.2B $6.9B
Margins
Operating margin 40.7% 41.3% 38.6% 38.2% 29.7% 32.1% 28.9% 33.7% 36.3% 37.2%
EBITDA margin 56.9% 58.1% 56.1% 55.8% 47.3% 48.0% 42.9% 50.4% 54.0% 54.1%
Net margin 28.6% 29.6% 22.9% 25.2% 19.5% 23.0% 20.3% 24.3% 28.5% 24.9%
FCF margin 1.6% −12.0% −15.2% −23.8% −22.4% −20.0% −20.2% −12.9% −26.8% −17.0%
Returns
Return on capital 10.2% 9.6% 9.2% 9.1% 7.5% 7.6% 7.9% 6.5% 5.7% 6.4%
Return on capital employed 5.9% 5.6% 5.1% 4.4% 3.9% 4.5% 4.6% 4.5% 4.6% 5.2%
Return on equity 13.1% 12.6% 9.7% 7.6% 6.7% 8.8% 8.8% 8.8% 9.8% 9.4%
Return on assets 3.9% 3.8% 2.9% 2.8% 2.5% 3.0% 3.1% 3.1% 3.4% 3.3%
Growth
Revenue growth 0.7% −1.3% 3.5% 6.2% 64.4% 28.4% 21.8% −10.2% 1.6% 18.6%
Net income growth 16.1% 2.4% −19.9% 17.0% 26.9% 51.5% 7.8% 7.1% 19.5% 3.5%
EPS growth 15.8% 2.3% −20.0% −3.7% 7.7% 49.1% 6.0% 5.1% 16.7% 1.4%
FCF growth 115.7% −835.0% — — — — — — — —
Share count change 0.2% 0.2% 0.1% 21.0% 17.9% 1.4% 1.8% 1.8% 2.5% 2.3%
Financial health
Net debt / EBITDA 2.7x 3.1x 3.4x 0.0x 4.4x 3.4x 3.1x 6.7x 6.7x 6.1x
Debt / equity 0.7x 0.8x 0.8x 0.5x 0.6x 0.6x 0.6x 1.2x 1.2x 1.2x
Interest coverage 4.1x 3.8x 3.3x 2.7x 2.3x 2.9x 2.8x 2.4x 2.5x 2.8x
Current ratio 0.4x 0.5x 0.4x 6.2x 0.6x 0.7x 0.6x 0.6x 0.5x 0.8x
Quick ratio 0.4x 0.4x 0.3x 6.2x 0.6x 0.7x 0.6x 0.6x 0.5x 0.8x
Capital allocation
Capex / revenue 46.7% 59.1% 59.2% 61.9% 57.1% 54.3% 46.5% 58.4% 63.7% 57.8%
Stock comp / revenue 0.7% 0.8% 0.9% 0.8% 0.6% 0.5% 0.5% 0.6% 0.5% 0.5%
Payouts / FCF 1,017.3% — — — — — — — — —
Quality scores
Piotroski F-score 5.0 4.0 4.0 6.0 4.0 6.0 6.0 3.0 4.0 5.0
Altman Z'' 1.2 1.3 1.1 2.6 1.0 1.1 1.0 1.1 1.0 1.2
Accruals ratio −2.7% −2.3% −2.7% −1.4% −1.9% −1.5% −0.9% −2.7% −1.0% −2.1%

Source: SEC EDGAR XBRL filings (CIK 0000078128). Data updated October 14, 2026. Quarterly fourth quarters are the full year minus the first nine months. For information only — not investment advice. Check the original filings before relying on any figure.

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