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The Company Essential Utilities, Inc., referred to as Essential Utilities , Essential , the Company , we , us , or our , a Pennsylvania corporation, is the holding company for regulated utilities providing water, wastewater, or natural gas services to an estimated 5.5 million people in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas, Illinois, North Carolina, New Jersey, Indiana, Virginia, and Kentucky under the Aqu…
$39.69
+$0.22 (+0.56%)
EOD Jul 17, 2026
37.22% operating margin is above average. ROIC at 6.38%. Note that capital returns lag the margin, the business may be capital-intensive despite high margins.
Revenue grew 18.6%, still solid.
Even for strong businesses, today's 20x P/E means the stock needs to keep delivering. There's no margin of safety if growth disappoints.
20.3x earnings. Valuation is in a reasonable range. The main question is whether the business can re-accelerate or if current trajectory is already priced in.
Based on TTM earnings · Diluted shares
Profitability & Returns
Revenue (TTM)
$2.55B
▲ +18.6% YoY
Net Income (TTM)
$557M
▲ +3.5% YoY
Op. Margin
34.97%
▲ +0.9pp YoY
ROIC
5.80%
▲ +1.9pp YoY
Cash Flow & Balance Sheet
FCF
N/A
Op. Cash Flow (TTM)
$976M
▲ +31.2% YoY
Net Debt
$8.33B
Cash & Equiv.
$76M
5Y CAGR: +11.1%
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At a P/E of 20.3, Essential Utilities (WTRG)'s valuation is best read against its own history, its peers, and the growth its price implies. A high multiple is not the same as overvalued: fast-growing, high-quality businesses can deserve a premium. See the general approach in how to tell if a stock is overvalued.
On quality, Essential Utilities scores 31/100 on Intrinsiqq's quality scorecard (a lower-quality business on these measures), weighing growth, margins, returns on capital, share count, and balance-sheet strength. It currently yields about 3.4%; see dividend safety for coverage and history. All figures are computed from SEC filings; read the full methodology. This is analysis, not investment advice.
Essential Utilities scores 31 out of 100 on Intrinsiqq's quality score, a weighted blend of 6 metrics each scored 0 to 100, which makes it a lower-quality business on these measures. Recent fundamentals include a 35.0% operating margin and a 5.8% return on invested capital. The score weighs revenue and free-cash-flow growth, operating margins, return on invested capital, share-count change, and balance-sheet strength, all computed from SEC filings, not opinion. Because valuation only means something relative to quality, the full metric-by-metric breakdown is on the quality scorecard.
Yes, Essential Utilities pays a regular dividend of about $1.34 per share per year (typically in quarterly installments), a yield of roughly 3.4% at the current price. That is a payout ratio of about 68.5% of earnings, so the dividend is covered, with less cushion. Essential Utilities has grown the dividend at roughly 9.6% a year over the past few years. A low headline yield is not the same as a weak dividend: what matters is how well earnings and free cash flow cover the payout and whether it is growing, not the percentage alone. For WTRG's full payout history, growth streak and dividend-safety score, see the dividends tab.
That depends on valuation and quality together, not either alone. you should weigh WTRG's valuation and scores 31/100 on quality (lower-quality). It also yields about 3.4%. A cheap price is only a bargain if the business is durable, and a premium can be justified by genuine quality, so the two questions, "is it cheap?" and "is it good?", only make sense side by side. Read the valuation against the quality scorecard, run the DCF on your own assumptions, and decide for yourself. This is analysis from SEC filings, not investment advice.