Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) Announces Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.05 EPS

Posted by George Bondi on Nov 3rd, 2026

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG – Get Free Report) issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.05, Zacks reports. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 21.60% and a return on equity of 8.23%.

Essential Utilities Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE WTRG traded down $0.35 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $44.09. 3,227,845 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,264,637. Essential Utilities has a 1 year low of $36.10 and a 1 year high of $44.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.50, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The business has a 50 day moving average of $40.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.45.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.3606 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 10th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.47%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essential Utilities news, insider Colleen Arnold sold 2,855 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.55, for a total transaction of $112,915.25. Following the sale, the insider owned 17,347 shares in the company, valued at approximately $686,073.85. The trade was a 14.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Essential Utilities from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.00.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on WTRG

About Essential Utilities

(Get Free Report)

Essential Utilities, Inc is a regulated utility company that provides water, wastewater and natural gas services to residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers. Through its Aqua and Peoples operations, the company owns and operates water and wastewater systems, natural gas distribution networks and related infrastructure. Its services include the treatment and delivery of drinking water, collection and treatment of wastewater, and the distribution of natural gas.

The company serves customers across several U.S.