NYSE:WTRG Essential Utilities (WTRG) Stock Price, News & Analysis $40.13 -0.24 (-0.59%) Closing price 04/25/2025 03:59 PM EasternExtended Trading$40.12 -0.01 (-0.01%) As of 04/25/2025 07:45 PM Eastern Extended trading is trading that happens on electronic markets outside of regular trading hours. This is a fair market value extended hours price provided by Polygon.io. Learn more. Add Compare Share Share Stock Analysis Stock AnalysisAnalyst ForecastsChartCompetitorsDividendEarningsFinancialsHeadlinesInsider TradesOptions ChainOwnershipSEC FilingsShort InterestSustainabilityTrendsBuy This Stock About Essential Utilities Stock (NYSE:WTRG) 30 days 90 days 365 days Advanced Chart View Price History Chart DataSkip Price History Chart Get Essential Utilities alerts:Sign Up Key Stats Today's Range$39.59▼$40.3650-Day Range$35.57▼$41.1852-Week Range$33.18▼$41.78Volume1.16 million shsAverage Volume1.46 million shsMarket Capitalization$11.06 billionP/E Ratio20.07Dividend Yield3.24%Price Target$43.50Consensus RatingModerate Buy Company OverviewEssential Utilities, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates regulated utilities that provide water, wastewater, or natural gas services in the United States. The company operates through Regulated Water and Regulated Natural Gas segments. It offers water services through operating and maintenance contract with municipal authorities and other parties. In addition, the company provides utility service line protection solutions and repair services to households. It serves approximately 5.5 million residential water, commercial water, fire protection, industrial water, wastewater, and other water and utility customers in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas, Illinois, North Carolina, New Jersey, Indiana, Virginia, and Kentucky under the Aqua and Peoples brands. The company was formerly known as Aqua America, Inc. and changed its name to Essential Utilities, Inc. in February 2020. Essential Utilities, Inc. was founded in 1886 and is headquartered in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.Read More… Essential Utilities Stock Analysis - MarketRank™See Top-Rated MarketRank™ Stocks83rd Percentile Overall ScoreWTRG MarketRank™: Essential Utilities scored higher than 83% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 8th out of 93 stocks in the utilities sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation. Analyst's Opinion1.4 / 5Analyst RatingModerate Buy Consensus RatingEssential 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 CoverageEssential Utilities has only been the subject of 3 research reports in the past 90 days.Read more about Essential Utilities' stock forecast and price target. Earnings and Valuation1.9 / 5Proj. Earnings Growth7.04% Earnings GrowthEarnings 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 MarketThe P/E ratio of Essential Utilities is 20.07, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 21.67.Price to Earnings Ratio vs. SectorThe P/E ratio of Essential Utilities is 20.07, which means that it is trading at a more expensive P/E ratio than the Utilities sector average P/E ratio of about 15.61.Price to Earnings Growth RatioEssential Utilities has a PEG Ratio of 2.57. PEG Ratios above 1 indicate that a company could be overvalued.Price to Book Value per Share RatioEssential Utilities has a P/B Ratio of 1.86. P/B Ratios below 3 indicates that a company is reasonably valued with respect to its assets and liabilities.Read more about Essential Utilities' valuation and earnings. Short Interest3.0 / 5Short Interest LevelHealthy Percentage of Shares Shorted2.13% of the float of Essential Utilities has been sold short.Short Interest Ratio / Days to CoverEssential Utilities has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 3.4, which is generally considered an acceptable ratio of short interest to trading volume.Change versus previous monthShort interest in Essential Utilities has recently increased by 16.14%, indicating that investor sentiment is decreasing significantly. Dividend4.2 / 5Dividend StrengthStrong Dividend YieldEssential Utilities pays a meaningful dividend of 3.16%, higher than the bottom 25% of all stocks that pay dividends.Dividend GrowthEssential Utilities has been increasing its dividend for 32 years.Dividend CoverageThe dividend payout ratio of Essential Utilities is 59.91%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%.Dividend SustainabilityBased 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.Read more about Essential Utilities' dividend. Sustainability and ESG3.1 / 5Environmental Score-2.18 Percentage of Shares Shorted2.13% of the float of Essential Utilities has been sold short.Short Interest Ratio / Days to CoverEssential Utilities has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 3.4, which is generally considered an acceptable ratio of short interest to trading volume.Change versus previous monthShort interest in Essential Utilities has recently increased by 16.14%, indicating that investor sentiment is decreasing significantly. News and Social Media4.0 / 5News Sentiment1.24 News SentimentEssential Utilities has a news sentiment score of 1.24. 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 WeekMarketBeat has tracked 12 news articles for Essential Utilities this week, compared to 8 articles on an average week.Search Interest12 people have searched for WTRG on MarketBeat in the last 30 days. This is an increase of 71% compared to the previous 30 days.MarketBeat Follows4 people have added Essential Utilities to their MarketBeat watchlist in the last 30 days. This is an increase of 33% compared to the previous 30 days. Company Ownership1.7 / 5Insider TradingN/A Insider Buying vs. Insider SellingIn the past three months, Essential Utilities insiders have not sold or bought any company stock.Percentage Held by InsidersOnly 0.21% of the stock of Essential Utilities is held by insiders.Percentage Held by Institutions74.78% of the stock of Essential Utilities is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.Read more about Essential Utilities' insider trading history. Receive WTRG Stock News and Ratings via Email Sign-up to receive the latest news and ratings for Essential Utilities and its competitors with MarketBeat's FREE daily newsletter. Email Address WTRG Stock News HeadlinesEssential Utilities Named to USA TODAY’s America’s Climate Leaders 2025 ListApril 24 at 8:17 PM | finance.yahoo.comEssential Utilities Named to USA TODAY's America's Climate Leaders 2025 ListApril 24 at 11:56 AM | businesswire.comTrump Treasure April 19Thanks to President Trump… A $900 investment across5 specific cryptos… Could gain 12,000% so quickly that, just 12 months later…April 26, 2025 | Paradigm Press (Ad)Essential Utilities to Announce Q1 2025 Earnings on May 12April 22, 2025 | msn.comEssential Utilities, Inc. (WTRG): Among the Best Utility Stocks to Buy According to AnalystsApril 18, 2025 | insidermonkey.comEssential Utilities to Report Earnings for Q1 2025April 14, 2025 | gurufocus.comEssential Utilities to Report Earnings for Q1 2025April 14, 2025 | finance.yahoo.comEssential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) is a favorite amongst institutional investors who own 80%April 12, 2025 | finance.yahoo.comSee More Headlines WTRG Stock Analysis - Frequently Asked Questions How have WTRG shares performed this year? Essential Utilities' stock was trading at $36.32 on January 1st, 2025. Since then, WTRG stock has increased by 10.5% and is now trading at $40.13. View the best growth stocks for 2025 here. How were Essential Utilities' earnings last quarter? Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February, 26th. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $604.38 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $698.77 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 27.84% and a trailing twelve-month return on equity of 7.89%. Read the conference call transcript. Who are Essential Utilities' major shareholders? Top institutional shareholders of Essential Utilities include Boston Trust Walden Corp (0.90%), Rhumbline Advisers (0.31%), AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc (0.28%) and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. (0.19%). 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 AUO (AUOTY). Company Calendar Record date for 3/3 Dividend2/10/2025Ex-Dividend for 3/3 Dividend2/10/2025Last Earnings2/26/2025Dividend Payable3/03/2025Today4/25/2025Next Earnings (Estimated)5/01/2025Record date for 6/2 Dividend5/13/2025Ex-Dividend for 6/2 Dividend5/13/2025Dividend Payable6/02/2025Fiscal Year End12/31/2025Get Stock AlertsIndustry, Sector and Symbol Stock ExchangeNYSE SectorUtilities Industry Water supply Sub-IndustryUtilities Current SymbolNYSE:WTRG CIK78128 Webwww.essential.co Phone(610) 527-8000Fax610-645-1061Employees3,210Year FoundedN/APrice Target and Rating Average Stock Price Target$43.50 High Stock Price Target$46.00 Low Stock Price Target$41.00 Potential Upside/Downside+8.4%Consensus RatingModerate Buy Rating Score (0-4)2.83 Research Coverage6 Analysts Profitability EPS (Most Recent Fiscal Year)$2.17 Trailing P/E Ratio20.07 Forward P/E Ratio20.17 P/E Growth2.57Net Income$498.23 million Net Margins27.84% Pretax Margin26.63% Return on Equity7.89% Return on Assets2.79% Debt Debt-to-Equity Ratio1.17 Current Ratio0.55 Quick Ratio0.39 Sales & Book Value Annual Sales$2.09 billion Price / Sales5.30 Cash Flow$3.44 per share Price / Cash Flow11.67 Book Value$21.58 per share Price / Book1.86Miscellaneous Outstanding Shares275,524,000Free Float274,034,000Market Cap$11.06 billion OptionableOptionable Beta0.80 A Guide To High-Short-Interest StocksMarketBeat's analysts have just released their top five short plays for May 2025. Learn which stocks have the most short interest and how to trade them. Enter your email address to see which companies made the list.Get This Free Report This page (NYSE:WTRG) was last updated on 4/26/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff From Our PartnersThe first casualty of the 2025 trade warThe headlines scream tariffs and export bans — but the real damage is happening in retirement portfolios. Tim ...Investors Alley | SponsoredTrump’s tariffs just split the AI market in twoTrump’s tariff just split the AI market – among others – in two. One group of AI companies—the ones relying...Traders Agency | SponsoredURGENT: Someone's Moving Gold Out of London...People who don’t understand the gold market are about to lose a lot of money. Unfortunately, most so-called “g...Golden Portfolio | SponsoredJames Altucher: Do not invest in AI unless…I made millions during the crypto boom. 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