Essential Utilities Inc.

WTRG Utilities Utilities Regulated Water

Essential Utilities Inc.’s revenue for fiscal 2025 (year ended December 2025) was $2.5 billion, up 18.6% from fiscal 2024.

Revenue
+6.56%
EPS
+12.1%
Free cash flow
−1.23%
Total debt
+1.34%

Quarter to September 2026, against a year earlier

45.07 1.03 +2.34%
Market cap
$12.5B
P/E
22.6×
Fwd P/E
19.6×
Dividend yield
3.88%
F-score
5/9
Altman Z
0.95
Beneish M
−2.29
Dividend safety
42/100

Essential Utilities Inc. (WTRG) valuation and DCF model

What the price implies · reverse DCF

At $45.07 the price implies free cash flow after share-based pay growing 6.0% a year for ten years.

The industry’s median company is priced for 24.1%.

Price implies
6.0%
Industry median implies
24.1%

The headline discounts the last twelve months’ free cash flow after share-based pay at 9.0% for ten years and grows it 2.5% a year after that, the same for every company, so the figure compares across the market (how a reverse DCF works).

The other way round · DCF
The price needs
6.0% a year for ten years
$45.07
today’s price
Its base case
5.0% a year for five years, then 3.0%
$35.50
21.2% below today’s price

Both are growth in free cash flow after share-based pay, discounted at 9.0%, with 2.5% a year after year ten.

Base case on its own ten-year record Essential Utilities Inc.’s own growth, carried forward

Its assumptions

Powerpack lets you start from a scenario and type over any of them.

The base case’s inputs, which Powerpack lets you change
1 · Cash flow to equity
the four quarters to September 2026, from the 10-Q and 10-K filings, before share-based pay

Yearly growth in cash flow. It usually slows as the company matures.

Today’s price implies free cash flow after share-based pay growing 6.0% a year for ten years.

2 · Rates

Cost of equity is the yearly return shareholders require, typically 8–11%. Terminal growth is growth forever after year 10, usually near long-run inflation, 2–3%.

3 · Per share

Diluted shares outstanding. Net debt, under Advanced inputs, is taken off before dividing.

Advanced inputs
negative is net cash
new shares the cash flow does not pay for

Against Essential Utilities Inc.’s own cost of capital: risk-free 4.3% + beta 0.61 × equity premium 4.5% = 7.0% cost of equity; weighted, 7.0%.

Use 7.0%
Equity value $10.06b ▼ below market cap $12.77b
Base case value per share $35.50 equity value ÷ 283.34m shares
Current price $45.07 market price per share
Below today’s price 21.2% downside at the base case’s assumptions

How we got there$8.09b 10 years of cash to equity+$9.99b terminal value−$8.02b net debt=$10.06b equity value÷283.34m shares=$35.50 per share

Valuation against its own history

Today’s multiple against its 5- and 10-year averages and the industry median (Utilities Regulated Water).

Multiple Current 5Y avg 10Y avg vs 10Y avg Industry median vs industry 10Y range
P/E 22.56× 20.82× 28.49× 21% below 22.15× 2% above
P/FCF — 462.55× 462.55× — 41.02× —
P/B 1.80× 1.81× 2.34× 23% below 1.75× 3% above
EV/EBITDA 15.29× 16.29× 18.90× 19% below 14.76× 4% above
EV/Sales 8.05× 8.20× 9.76× 18% below 6.19× 30% above
19.63×28.11×36.58×45.05×10Y avg 28.49×2017201820192020202120222023202420252026

WTRG trades at 22.56× P/E, against a 10-year average of 28.49× (range 16.74×–46.94×). That is cheaper than 67% of the last 9 year-end readings; re-rating to the average implies $56.92 per share.

Every growth rate on this page is the business’s — its cash flow, FFO or dividend — never its share price’s. A discounted-cash-flow model is only as good as its assumptions. Figures from the 10-K and 10-Q filings. Not investment advice.