Essential Utilities Inc. Common Stock (WTRG)

FairStock Score: 49/100 — MIXED

Key Financials

AI Analysis

AI-generated, general educational analysis — not personal investment advice.

I look for predictable earnings and a balance sheet that won't force bad decisions. Essential Utilities fits the first part: it sells regulated water and natural gas, services people need in good times and bad. At the 2026-10-13 close of $39.29, FairStock's calculations show a $11.1B market value, 20.15 times earnings, 1.59 times book, a 3.51% dividend yield, and a low beta of 0.63. FairStock calls it a STALWART because profit grew 16.7% a year and revenue 11.1% over five years. Filed results support pockets of that: in fiscal year 2025, the year ended 2025-12-31, net income was $616.4M and EPS $2.20, up from $498.2M and $1.86 in fiscal year 2023, the year ended 2023-12-31. In fiscal Q2 2026, the quarter ended 2026-06-30, revenue was $530.9M and net income $105.7M, versus revenue $514.9M and net income $107.8M in fiscal Q2 2025, the quarter ended 2025-06-30. So recent profit has slipped, and FairStock's provided profit-growth measure is -20.93%. FairStock's figures also show ROE 8.08%, ROCE 2.96%, debt-to-equity 1.22, trailing free cash flow -$451.9M, and FCF yield -4.1%. Its Altman Z-score of 0.74 and Piotroski F-score of 4/9 are not comforting. Its Graham Number is $32.94, leaving a negative margin of safety of -19.28% at the current price. Regulated utilities can compound if they invest at sensible returns, but here the price already assumes continued improvement while cash flow and leverage are strained. I would want a wider discount before calling it a bargain.

In plain English: Essential Utilities provides regulated water and natural gas service to millions of customers in the United States. The business has steady demand and a long record of growing sales and profit, but it carries a lot of debt and currently spends more cash than it generates. At $39.29 a share, the price looks a little rich compared with the company's earnings and asset value.

The full AI analysis, bull and bear case and key monitorables are in FairStock Pro.

Data as of 2026-10-13 close · note generated 2026-10-15 · model deepseek-flash

Sources (SEC EDGAR): fiscal Q2 2026 10-Q (period ended 2026-06-30) · fiscal Q1 2026 10-Q (period ended 2026-03-31) · fiscal Q3 2025 10-Q (period ended 2025-09-30) · fiscal Q2 2025 10-Q (period ended 2025-06-30) · FY2025 10-K (period ended 2025-12-31) · FY2024 10-K (period ended 2024-12-31) · FY2023 10-K (period ended 2023-12-31)

Fundamentals from company filings and market-data providers; prices are end-of-day, not real-time. AI-generated analysis is general and educational — not personal investment advice. Scoring methodology · Score test · Disclaimer