Essential Utilities
WTRG NYSE· Water Utilities
Last close · Oct 26, 2026
$42.76
KIRA · Stoqly’s AI analyst, in plain words
- Essential Utilities had $2.5B of revenue in fiscal 2025, up 18.6% on the year before. Over five years, revenue changed +11.1% a year on average.
- Its operating margin was 37.2%, up 0.9 pts: of every 100 in sales, about 37 is left after running the business.
- Essential Utilities made $616M of net profit in fiscal 2025. From fiscal 2016 to 2025, diluted EPS grew 5.8% a year.
- Free cash flow was −$420M in fiscal 2025, −17.0% of revenue.
- Essential Utilities returned $376M to shareholders in fiscal 2025. The diluted share count rose 2.3%.
- Essential Utilities owes $8.1B more than it holds in cash, about 6.1 years of operating profit.
Market cap
$12.1B
P/E
21.8x
Revenue
$2.5B
Net income
$616M
Free cash flow
−$420M
Operating margin
37.2%
Essential Utilities in 30 seconds · fiscal 2025
Are sales growing?
+18.6%
Yes. Sales grew 18.6% last year.
Does it make a profit?
24.9%
Yes. It keeps 24.9% of every sale as profit.
Does profit turn into cash?
−17.0%
No. It spent more cash than it brought in.
Is debt under control?
6.1x
Heavy. Repaying its debt would take 6.1 years of operating profit.
How healthy are the accounts?
5 / 8
Mixed. It passes 5 of 8 health tests.
How is the share priced?
21.8x
One share costs 21.8 times its yearly profit per share. Typical for its sector: 20.4x.
What Essential Utilities does
No business description yet.
- Fiscal year ends
- December 31, 2025
- Latest annual report
- 10-K · Feb 26, 2026
- Legal name
- Essential Utilities, Inc.
- CIK
- 0000078128
Essential Utilities · WTRG
Results and finances
The last 5 fiscal years. Amounts in USD.
| Fiscal year | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sales and profit | |||||
| Revenue | $1.9B | $2.3B | $2.1B | $2.1B | $2.5B |
| Revenue growth | 28.4% | 21.8% | −10.2% | 1.6% | 18.6% |
| Operating margin | 32.1% | 28.9% | 33.7% | 36.3% | 37.2% |
| Net income | $432M | $465M | $498M | $595M | $616M |
| Net margin | 23.0% | 20.3% | 24.3% | 28.5% | 24.9% |
| Diluted EPS | $1.67 | $1.77 | $1.86 | $2.17 | $2.20 |
| Cash | |||||
| Cash from operations | $645M | $600M | $934M | $770M | $1.0B |
| Capital expenditure | $1.0B | $1.1B | $1.2B | $1.3B | $1.4B |
| Free cash flow | −$376M | −$462M | −$266M | −$559M | −$420M |
| FCF margin | −20.0% | −20.2% | −12.9% | −26.8% | −17.0% |
| Dividends paid | $259M | $289M | $317M | $346M | $374M |
| Share buybacks | $3.3M | $1.2M | $4.0M | $4.0M | $2.3M |
| Share count change | 1.4% | 1.8% | 1.8% | 2.5% | 2.3% |
| Debt and strength | |||||
| 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 |
| Shareholders' equity | $5.2B | $5.4B | $5.9B | $6.2B | $6.9B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 3.4x | 3.1x | 6.7x | 6.7x | 6.1x |
| Current ratio | 0.7x | 0.6x | 0.6x | 0.5x | 0.8x |
| Interest coverage | 2.9x | 2.8x | 2.4x | 2.5x | 2.8x |
| Returns and quality | |||||
| Return on capital | 7.6% | 7.9% | 6.5% | 5.7% | 6.4% |
| Return on equity | 8.8% | 8.8% | 8.8% | 9.8% | 9.4% |
| Piotroski F-score | 6 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Altman Z'' | 1.1 | 1.0 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 1.2 |
Insiders bought, 12 months
$0.0M
0 insiders
Insiders sold, 12 months
$0.1M
1 insider
Of sales under plans
0%
$0.0M
How to read these numbers
- Revenue:
- Total sales reported in the income statement.
- Operating margin:
- Operating income as a share of revenue.
- Net income:
- Profit after all expenses, interest and tax.
- Free cash flow:
- Cash from operations minus capital spending.
- Net debt / EBITDA:
- Years of EBITDA needed to pay off net debt. Below zero means more cash than debt.
- Return on capital:
- After-tax operating income as a share of the money invested in the business: debt plus equity, minus cash.
Essential Utilities · WTRG
Charts and comparison
Ten years at a glance, and how it stacks up against similar companies.
Revenue
Net income
Margins, % of revenue
Cash vs debt (incl. leases)
Free cash flow
Dividends and buybacks
Similar companies
Each company’s latest fiscal year. Fiscal years end in different months, so periods don’t line up exactly.
| Company | Market cap | Growth | Op. margin | FCF margin | ROIC | P/E | F-score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essential Utilities WTRG | $12.1B | 18.6% | 37.2% | −17.0% | 6.4% | 21.8x | 5 |
| American Water Works AWK | $27.8B | 9.7% | 36.6% | −20.8% | 5.8% | 24.6x | 6 |
| California Water Service Gro... CWT | $2.9B | 6.4% | 17.7% | — | 4.8% | 21.6x | 4 |
| H2O America HTO | $2.3B | 7.0% | 22.2% | — | 4.9% | 20.2x | 4 |
| American States Water AWR | $3.4B | 10.5% | 30.9% | −1.1% | 9.3% | 23.4x | 4 |
Price compared with profit (P/E)
How many times its yearly profit per share one share costs. Higher means investors pay more for each unit of profit.
KIRA
At $42.76 a share, the company is worth $12.1B: 21.8 times its earnings of the last four quarters.
Essential Utilities grew sales faster than 4 of its 4 similar companies. Its P/E is higher than 2 of 4.
Source: SEC EDGAR XBRL filings (CIK 0000078128). Data updated October 14, 2026. For information only — not investment advice. Check the original filings before relying on any figure.