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Regulated water, wastewater and natural-gas distribution utility serving customers across Pennsylvania and other US states.
Regulated water, wastewater and natural-gas distribution utility serving customers across Pennsylvania and other US states.
Rates are set by state regulators in rate cases and let it earn a return on its pipes and plants, so growth comes from investing; Pennsylvania lets it add some pipe-replacement costs to bills between rate cases. Formerly Aqua America, it added a gas utility, Peoples, in 2020 and keeps buying small water and sewer systems from towns.
Moat: wide (regulatory licence, scale). Regulated monopoly franchises for both water and gas distribution across its service territories.
Headquarters: Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, USA · Founded: 1886 · Employees: 3,303
Size Essential Utilities (WTRG) is a United States Utilities company (Water Utilities) with a market value of $12.9B, the 664th largest of 3,117 United States companies the cockpit tracks. Shares closed at $45.45 on 6 Nov 2026.
Performance Over six months the shares gained 21.3%, against +6.1% for the median peer and -1.1% for the United States market (cap-weighted) — highest of 9 in its peer set.
Growth Revenue grew 9.2% over the last twelve months (peer median +11.3%); the operating margin is 35.5% (peer median 31.4%).
Valuation It trades at 19.8× forward earnings against a peer median of 14.4× (3rd most expensive of 9).
Capital Return on invested capital runs 2.3 points below its cost of capital (6.9% WACC).
Credit Essential Utilities has 10 bonds outstanding ($4.90B), rated BBB+ by the agencies and trading like A- at a weighted spread of 86 bp.
Short interest Short interest is 2.6% of the free float (15 Oct 2026).
Next results Next results expected around 24 Feb 2027 (exchange calendar; dates can move).
| TTM | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $2.60B | $2.47B | $2.09B | $2.05B | $2.29B |
| Revenue growth | — | +19% | +2% | -10% | — |
| Gross profit | $1.02B | $1.01B | $852M | $782M | $751M |
| EBITDA | $1.37B | $1.34B | $1.13B | $1.04B | $982M |
| Net income | $567M | $616M | $595M | $498M | $465M |
| Free cash flow | n/a | -$477M | -$560M | -$266M | -$462M |
| Capital expenditure | n/a | $1.49B | $1.33B | $1.20B | $1.06B |
| Total debt | $8.70B | $8.31B | $7.73B | $7.10B | $6.85B |
The default views of Competitor Analysis ▸ Charts, drawn from the same data. Open them in the cockpit to change the axes, pin companies and read every value.
| Company | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essential Utilities WTRG | $12.9B | +21% | +9% | 36% | 19.8× | n/a |
| American Water Works AWK | $29.9B | +21% | +5% | 37% | 23.9× | n/a |
| American States Water AWR | $3.57B | +17% | +13% | 32% | 23.9× | 9.3% |
| California Water Service CWT | $3.21B | +17% | +7% | 21% | 19.0× | n/a |
Peer set: Industry: the same industry and sector in any market, nearest in size. This is the same default set the interactive Competitor Analysis opens with.
| Measure | WTRG | Peer median | Rank in peer set |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-month return | +17.4% | +7.9% | highest of 9 |
| 6-month return | +21.3% | +6.1% | highest of 9 |
| Distance from 52-week high | -2.0% | -2.4% | 2nd highest of 9 |
| Revenue growth (TTM) | +9.2% | +11.3% | 4th lowest of 9 |
| Operating margin | 35.5% | 31.4% | 4th highest of 9 |
| Forward P/E | 19.8× | 14.4× | 3rd most expensive of 9 |
| ROIC minus cost of capital | -2.3 pp | -0.6 pp | lowest of 9 |
| EV / EBITDA | 15.8× | 13.4× | 2nd most expensive of 8 |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 6.0× | 4.5× | 3rd most indebted of 8 |
| Bond spread | 86 bp | 108 bp | 2nd tightest of 5 |
| Company | Market | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g | Delivered g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essential Utilities WTRG | United States | $12.9B | +21% | +9% | 36% | 19.8× | n/a | n/a |
| Severn Trent SVT.L | United Kingdom | $13.4B | +6% | +17% | 30% | 16.3× | n/a | n/a |
| United Utilities UU..L | United Kingdom | $15.4B | +12% | +22% | 41% | 14.7× | n/a | n/a |
| Companhia de Saneamento Basico do Estado de Sao Paulo SABESP Sponsored ADR SBS | United States | $16.3B | -24% | +9% | 31% | 11.8× | -3.4% | +14.6% |
| Guangdong Investment 0270.HK | Hong Kong | $6.81B | 0% | +25% | 38% | 10.8× | -1.8% | -4.1% |
| Veolia Environnement VIE.PA | France | $27.7B | -3% | 0% | 8% | 14.1× | 8.3% | +11.3% |
| American Water Works AWK | United States | $29.9B | +21% | +5% | 37% | 23.9× | n/a | n/a |
| American States Water AWR | United States | $3.57B | +17% | +13% | 32% | 23.9× | 9.3% | +6.2% |
| Chengdu Xingrong Environment 000598.SZ | China | $3.27B | +7% | +1% | 29% | 10.3× | -8.2% | +10.8% |
Essential Utilities has 10 bonds outstanding with $4.90B face value. The agencies rate it BBB+; its bonds trade like A-. Weighted yield 5.77%, a spread of 86 bp over government bonds.