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Essential Utilities, Inc. key statistics and ratios

In fiscal 2025, Essential Utilities, Inc. had return on equity of 9.4% and a net margin of 24.9%. Each ratio below is calculated from the figures on its income statement, balance sheet and cash flow pages.

Financial ratios

US$ thousands unless shown otherwise. Fiscal years, plus the last twelve months (LTM) when newer.

Fiscal year2009Dec 20092010Dec 20102011Dec 20112012Dec 20122013Dec 20132014Dec 20142015Dec 20152016Dec 20162017Dec 20172018Dec 20182019Dec 20192020Dec 20202021Dec 20212022Dec 20222023Dec 20232024Dec 20242025Dec 2025LTMJun 2026
Net margin17.1%19.0%21.0%26.2%29.0%29.9%24.8%28.6%29.6%22.9%25.2%19.5%23.0%20.3%24.3%28.5%24.9%21.6%
Return on equity9.4%10.9%11.8%14.9%15.2%14.6%11.9%13.1%12.6%9.7%7.6%6.7%8.7%8.8%8.8%9.8%9.4%8.0%
Return on assets2.8%3.2%3.4%4.3%4.5%4.5%3.6%3.9%3.8%2.9%2.8%2.5%3.0%3.1%3.1%3.4%3.3%2.8%
Effective tax rate38.6%37.8%32.6%26.4%9.5%10.5%6.9%8.2%6.6%−7.7%−6.2%−7.5%−2.3%−3.2%−15.4%−3.8%0.6%5.0%
Dividends ÷ net income71.6%65.3%60.9%47.5%46.5%48.1%60.1%55.9%58.7%78.5%84.0%81.6%59.9%62.0%63.6%58.2%60.6%69.8%

Returns use average equity or assets over the year. Return on equity is left blank when equity is negative or so small that the ratio says nothing (above ±200%); interest cover is left blank above 200 times. Price-based ratios such as P/E are on the valuation page.

Financial health

0 of 6 checks passed · June 30, 2026
What it owns · $19.9bn
Short-term assets $465mLonger-term assets $19.5bn
What it owes, and who funded it · $7.6bn
Short-term liabilities $599mShareholders' equity $7.0bn
  • Short-term assets cover short-term liabilities $465m of assets due within a year against $599m of liabilities due within a year.
  • Short-term assets cover long-term liabilities Not assessable from the reported split. Not assessable.
  • More cash than debt $9m of cash against $8.5bn of debt.
  • Debt below 40% of shareholders' equity Debt is 121% of equity.
  • Debt burden no higher than five years ago Debt to equity moved from 111% to 121% over five years.
  • A year's operating cash flow covers at least 20% of debt $1.0bn of operating cash flow against $8.5bn of debt.
  • Operating profit covers interest at least five times over Operating income of $901m against $344m of interest.

From Essential Utilities, Inc.'s latest balance sheet as filed. Checks are fixed, documented rules (methodology), counted only where the company reports the figures — a dot means the filing doesn't break the item out. Descriptions of reported data, not advice.

Moat

66 /100

Moderate moat

How hard Essential Utilities's competitive advantage looks for rivals to wear away, judged from 10 years of its own filings: returns on capital, pricing power, profit durability, cash conversion and discipline.

  • Returns on capital 2 / 20

    Net income has been a median 3.0% of total assets over 10 years.

  • Durability 20 / 20

    Operating margin has been a median 35.3%; its worst year was 29.4%.

  • Cash conversion 18 / 20

    Free cash flow was positive in 8 of 10 years, at a median 20.2% of revenue.

  • Discipline 13 / 20

    The diluted share count rose 11.2% over five years; stock-based pay has been a median 0.5% of revenue.

AI disruption exposure: Low. In this industry, the business rests on physical assets, regulated networks or products AI itself depends on.

A rules-based reading of reported figures, not a forecast and not investment advice. How the score is built: methodology.

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Figures from Essential Utilities, Inc.'s SEC filings (10-K and 10-Q), retrieved October 20, 2026. How we read and check them: methodology and data sources. Not investment advice. Back to Essential Utilities, Inc.