How to buy Essential Utilities stock

Essential Utilities, Inc is an other business based in the US. Essential Utilities shares (WTR) are listed on the NYSE and all prices are listed in US Dollars. Essential Utilities employs 1,583 staff and has a market cap (total outstanding shares value) of USD$11.2 billion.

How to buy shares in Essential Utilities

1. Compare share trading platforms. If you're a beginner, look for a platform with low commissions, expert ratings and investment tools to track your portfolio. Narrow down top brands with our comparison table.
2. Open and fund your brokerage account. Complete an application with your personal and financial details, like your ID and bank information. Fund your account with a bank transfer, credit card or debit card.
3. Search for Essential Utilities. Find the stock by name or ticker symbol: WTR. Research its history to confirm it's a solid investment against your financial goals.
4. Purchase now or later. Buy today with a market order or use a limit order to delay your purchase until Essential Utilities reaches your desired price. To spread out your purchase, look into dollar-cost averaging, which smooths out buying at consistent intervals and amounts.
5. Decide on how many to buy. Weigh your budget against a diversified portfolio that can minimize risk through the market's ups and downs. You may be able to buy a fractional share of Essential Utilities, depending on your broker.
6. Check in on your investment. Congratulations, you own a part of Essential Utilities. Optimize your portfolio by tracking how your stock — and even the business — performs with an eye on the long term. You may be eligible for dividends and shareholder voting rights on directors and management that can affect your stock.

Essential Utilities share price

Use our graph to track the performance of WTR stocks over time.

Essential Utilities shares at a glance

• Key figures

Information last updated 2020-10-22.

52-week range	USD$0.005 - USD$0.015
50-day moving average	USD$51.67
200-day moving average	USD$51.67
Wall St. target price	USD$49.56
PE ratio	35.4661
Dividend yield	USD$0.94 (13752%)
Earnings per share (TTM)	USD$1.04

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Is it a good time to buy Essential Utilities stock?

The technical analysis gauge below displays real-time ratings for the timeframes you select. This is not a recommendation, however. It represents a technical analysis based on the most popular technical indicators: Moving Averages, Oscillators and Pivots. Finder might not concur and takes no responsibility.

Technical Analysis of Essential Utilities, Inc by TradingView

This chart is not advice or a guarantee of success. Rather, it gauges the real-time recommendations of three popular technical indicators: moving averages, oscillators and pivots. Finder is not responsible for how your stock performs.

Is Essential Utilities under- or over-valued?

Valuing Essential Utilities stock is incredibly difficult, and any metric has to be viewed as part of a bigger picture of Essential Utilities's overall performance. However, analysts commonly use some key metrics to help gauge the value of a stock.

Essential Utilities's P/E ratio

Essential Utilities's current share price divided by its per-share earnings (EPS) over a 12-month period gives a "trailing price/earnings ratio" of roughly 35x. In other words, Essential Utilities shares trade at around 35x recent earnings.

That's relatively high compared to, say, the trailing 12-month P/E ratio for the NASDAQ 100 at the end of 2019 (27.29). The high P/E ratio could mean that investors are optimistic about the outlook for the shares or simply that they're over-valued.

Essential Utilities's PEG ratio

Essential Utilities's "price/earnings-to-growth ratio" can be calculated by dividing its P/E ratio by its growth – to give 4.6656. A low ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer better value, while a higher ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer worse value.

The PEG ratio provides a broader view than just the P/E ratio, as it gives more insight into Essential Utilities's future profitability. By accounting for growth, it could also help you if you're comparing the share prices of multiple high-growth companies.

Essential Utilities's EBITDA

Essential Utilities's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) is USD$513.7 million.

The EBITDA is a measure of a Essential Utilities's overall financial performance and is widely used to measure a its profitability.

Essential Utilities financials

Gross profit TTM	USD$579.5 million
Return on assets TTM	0%
Return on equity TTM	0%
Profit margin	0%
Book value	$17.58
Market capitalisation	USD$11.2 billion

TTM: trailing 12 months

Essential Utilities's environmental, social and governance track record

Environmental, social and governance (known as ESG) criteria are a set of three factors used to measure the sustainability and social impact of companies like Essential Utilities.

When it comes to ESG scores, lower is better, and lower scores are generally associated with lower risk for would-be investors.

Essential Utilities's total ESG risk score

Total ESG risk: 40.76

Socially conscious investors use ESG scores to screen how an investment aligns with their worldview, and Essential Utilities's overall score of 40.76 (as at 01/01/2019) is pretty weak – landing it in it in the 82nd percentile of companies rated in the same sector.

ESG scores are increasingly used to estimate the level of risk a company like Essential Utilities is exposed to within the areas of "environmental" (carbon footprint, resource use etc.), "social" (health and safety, human rights etc.), and "governance" (anti-corruption, tax transparency etc.).

Essential Utilities's environmental score

Environmental score: 23.13/100

Essential Utilities's environmental score of 23.13 puts it squarely in the 5th percentile of companies rated in the same sector. This could suggest that Essential Utilities is a leader in its sector terms of its environmental impact, and exposed to a lower level of risk.

Essential Utilities's social score

Social score: 13.38/100

Essential Utilities's social score of 13.38 puts it squarely in the 5th percentile of companies rated in the same sector. This could suggest that Essential Utilities is a leader in its sector when it comes to taking good care of its workforce and the communities it impacts.

Essential Utilities's governance score

Governance score: 9.74/100

Essential Utilities's governance score puts it squarely in the 5th percentile of companies rated in the same sector. That could suggest that Essential Utilities is a leader in its sector when it comes to responsible management and strategy, and exposed to a lower level of risk.

Essential Utilities's controversy score

Controversy score: 1/5

ESG scores also evaluate any incidences of controversy that a company has been involved in. Essential Utilities scored a 1 out of 5 for controversy – the highest score possible, reflecting that Essential Utilities has managed to keep its nose clean.

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) summary

Essential Utilities, Inc was last rated for ESG on: 2019-01-01.

Total ESG score	40.76
Total ESG percentile	81.54
Environmental score	23.13
Environmental score percentile	5
Social score	13.38
Social score percentile	5
Governance score	9.74
Governance score percentile	5
Level of controversy	1

Essential Utilities share dividends

Dividend payout ratio: 118.29% of net profits

Recently Essential Utilities has paid out, on average, around 118.29% of net profits as dividends. That has enabled analysts to estimate a "forward annual dividend yield" of 13752% of the current stock value. This means that over a year, based on recent payouts (which are sadly no guarantee of future payouts), Essential Utilities shareholders could enjoy a 13752% return on their shares, in the form of dividend payments. In Essential Utilities's case, that would currently equate to about $0.94 per share.

Essential Utilities's payout ratio would broadly be considered high, and as such this stock could appeal to those looking to generate an income. Bear in mind however that companies should normally also look to re-invest a decent amount of net profits to ensure future growth.

Essential Utilities's most recent dividend payout was on 1 December 2019.

Essential Utilities overview

Essential Utilities, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates regulated utilities that provide water or wastewater services in the United States. It manages water system operating and maintenance contracts. The company also provides non-utility raw water supply services for firms in the natural gas drilling industry; and water and sewer line protection solutions, and repair services to households through third-party. It offers its services to residential water, commercial water, fire protection, industrial water, wastewater, and other water and utility customers. As of February 27, 2020, it served approximately 5 million people across 10 states under the Aqua and Peoples brands. The company was formerly known as Aqua America, Inc. and changed its name to Essential Utilities, Inc. in February 2020. Essential Utilities, Inc. was founded in 1886 and is headquartered in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.

Frequently asked questions

• How many people work for Essential Utilities?

  Latest data suggests 1,583 work at Essential Utilities.

• When does the fiscal year end for Essential Utilities?

  Essential Utilities's fiscal year ends in December.

• Where is Essential Utilities based?

  Essential Utilities's address is: 762 West Lancaster Avenue19010,Bryn Mawr,USA

• What is Essential Utilities's ISIN number?

  Essential Utilities's international securities identification number is: US29670G1022

• What is Essential Utilities's CUSIP number?

  Essential Utilities's Committee on Uniform Securities Identification Procedures number is: 03836W103