Analysis updated on Oct. 16, 2026 (UTC) · Total · absolute moveSwitch to Alpha · NYSE
Our AI ranks Essential Utilities, Inc. outside the neutral middle of its coverage (a directional signal). Create a free account and follow it to see the exact price target.
Essential Utilities, Inc. is a large-cap company with a market capitalization of $11.59B. It ranks number 3 by market capitalization among the 12 Water Supply issuers in our coverage with a current forecast.
For WTRG, the Spearman rank correlation between our 90-day forecasts and the returns that followed is 29.0%, measured on 357 forecast dates between 2022-07-29 and 2026-07-17 on this stock's own recent history. A rank correlation runs from -100% to +100%: it measures whether higher forecasts were followed by higher returns, and a value near zero or below means the model has shown little skill on this stock. On the 30-day forecasts the same correlation is 13.0%, measured on 400 forecast dates between 2022-07-29 and 2026-09-16. Across our coverage, the out-of-sample test on 4495 stocks from 2025-01-06 to 2026-07-07 produced a positive net return in 82.5% of rebalance periods (factor-neutral book, net of estimated costs). Full backtest report
Expected absolute price move over the horizon, market included. This is the number a price target is built from. Ratings: strong buy ≥ +5.0%, buy ≥ +3.4%, sell < +1.8%, strong sell < +0.8% (top 15%, next 20%, middle 30%, next 20%, bottom 15% of the 2026-10-16 signals)
A free account shows the exact forecast, rating and rank of 3 tickers you follow, WTRG included.
Follow WTRG free90D Total forecasts of every company scored, cut into five relative ratings at the 15th, 35th, 65th and 85th percentiles (dashed lines).
Trailing twelve months. The industry median and the rank (1 = highest) are taken over the Water Supply peers listed below that report each metric.
| Metric | WTRG | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Market Cap | $11.59B | 3/12 |
| P/E Ratio | 35.20x | 2/10 |
| P/B Ratio | 1.65x | 9/11 |
| Dividend Yield | 3.34% | 3/10 |
| EPS | $1.16 | – |
| Book Value/Share | $24.73 | – |
| Revenue/Share | $9.05 | – |
| Metric | WTRG | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| ROIC | 4.7% | 5/9 |
| Operating Margin | 32.3% | 3/10 |
| EBT Margin | 20.9% | 5/10 |
| Tax Rate | 5.0% | – |
| Metric | WTRG | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Current Ratio | 0.78x | 7/11 |
| Quick Ratio | 0.68x | 5/7 |
| D/E Ratio | 1.84x | 6/12 |
| Financial Leverage | 2.84x | 5/10 |
| Interest Coverage | 2.2x | 7/11 |
| Working Capital | -$134M | 9/11 |
| Metric | WTRG | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Operating Cash Flow | $1.03B | 2/11 |
| OCF Growth YoY | 12.2% | 7/10 |
| Metric | WTRG | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Asset Turnover | 0.13x | 8/9 |
| Receivables Turnover | 12.4x | 6/11 |
| Fixed Assets Turnover | 0.2x | 5/7 |
| Days Sales Outstanding | 30 days | 6/11 |
| Metric | WTRG | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Total Revenue | $2.57B | 2/11 |
| Operating Income | $901M | 2/11 |
| Metric | WTRG | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Dividends Per Share | $1.36 | – |
| Payout Ratio | 117.2% | 2/9 |
| Shares Outstanding | 284M | – |
| EPS Growth | -64.8% | 10/10 |
| Total Current Assets | $465M | 2.3% of assets |
| Cash & Short-term Investments | $9M | 0.0% of assets |
| Accounts Receivable | $208M | 1.0% of assets |
| Inventory | $56M | 0.3% of assets |
| Total Liabilities | $12.92B | 64.8% of assets |
| Short-term Debt | $400M | 2.0% of assets |
Companies classified under the same SEC industry code as Essential Utilities, Inc. (Water Supply): 13 common-stock issuers with a forecast this week, one row per issuer, largest first. This is a classification match, not a curated list of competitors.
Reveal all forecasts · See exact % predictions for all competitors
Sign up free| Company | 90-Day AI Forecast (Total) | Market Cap |
|---|---|---|
| WTRG Essential Utilities, Inc. | ▼ | $11.59B |
| AWK American Water Works Company, Inc. | ▼ | $26.82B |
| SBS Companhia De Saneamento Basico Do Estado De Sao Paulo-Sabesp | ▲ | $21.92B |
| AWR American States Water Co | ▼ | $3.31B |
| CWT California Water Service Group | ▼ | $2.87B |
| HTO H2o America | ▼ | $2.41B |
| MSEX Middlesex Water Co | ▼ | $1.03B |
| CWCO Consolidated Water Co. Ltd. | ▼ | $452M |
| ARTNA Artesian Resources Corp | ▶ | $345M |
| CDZI Cadiz Inc | ▲ | $328M |
| PCYO Pure Cycle Corp | ▼ | $266M |
| GWRS Global Water Resources, Inc. | ▶ | $230M |
| EESH Eestech, Inc. | ▲ | N/A |
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. My name is Jericho, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Essential Full Year 2025 ...
Thank you. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us for our first quarter 2026 earnings call. If you did not receive a copy of the press release, you can find it on our Investor Relations ...
Essential Utilities (NYSE: WTRG) expects to report earnings for quarter ended September 30, 2026, following market close on November 3, 2026.
Our AI ranks Essential Utilities, Inc. outside the neutral middle of its coverage (a directional signal). Create a free account and follow it to see the exact price target.
For WTRG, the Spearman rank correlation between our 90-day forecasts and the returns that followed is 29.0%, measured on 357 forecast dates between 2022-07-29 and 2026-07-17 on this stock's own recent history. A rank correlation runs from -100% to +100%: it measures whether higher forecasts were followed by higher returns, and a value near zero or below means the model has shown little skill on this stock. On the 30-day forecasts the same correlation is 13.0%, measured on 400 forecast dates between 2022-07-29 and 2026-09-16. Across our coverage, the out-of-sample test on 4495 stocks from 2025-01-06 to 2026-07-07 produced a positive net return in 82.5% of rebalance periods (factor-neutral book, net of estimated costs). Full backtest report
Essential Utilities, Inc. forecasts are refreshed on trading days as the daily model run completes. The forecast on this page was produced on Oct. 16, 2026.
13 issuers in our coverage, WTRG included, share the SEC industry code Water Supply. The largest are: American Water Works Company, Inc. (AWK), Companhia De Saneamento Basico Do Estado De Sao Paulo-Sabesp (SBS), American States Water Co (AWR), California Water Service Group (CWT), H2o America (HTO), Middlesex Water Co (MSEX).
This analysis is generated automatically using our proprietary AI systems and should not be considered personalized investment advice. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Always conduct your own research and consider consulting a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
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