Essential Utilities Dividends and Buybacks
Dividend criteria checks 4/6
Essential Utilities is a dividend paying company with a current yield of 3.66% that is well covered by earnings. Next payment date is on 2nd March, 2026 with an ex-dividend date of 9th February, 2026.
Key information
3.7%
Dividend yield
-3.0%
Buyback Yield
| Total Shareholder Yield | 0.7% |
| Future Dividend Yield | 4.3% |
| Dividend Growth | 6.7% |
| Next dividend pay date | 02 Mar 26 |
| Ex dividend date | 09 Feb 26 |
| Dividend per share | n/a |
| Payout ratio | 55% |
Recent dividend and buyback updates
Recent updates
Essential Utilities: When Boring Becomes Profitable
Jan 23Results: Essential Utilities, Inc. Exceeded Expectations And The Consensus Has Updated Its Estimates
Aug 06
Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) Has Announced That It Will Be Increasing Its Dividend To $0.3426
Aug 03Calculating The Intrinsic Value Of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)
Jul 14We Think Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) Is Taking Some Risk With Its Debt
Jun 29Risks To Shareholder Returns Are Elevated At These Prices For Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)
May 29Estimating The Fair Value Of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)
Apr 02Is Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) Using Too Much Debt?
Mar 20Essential Utilities' Secret Growth Engine: PFAS Rules Fuel Expansion
Mar 10There May Be Underlying Issues With The Quality Of Essential Utilities' (NYSE:WTRG) Earnings
Mar 06Essential Utilities: A SWAN Utility That Screens Cheap
Dec 29Essential Utilities: Undervalued In A Defensive Sector
Nov 25Essential Utilities: Buy This Dividend Compounder On Sale Now
Sep 15
Innovative Strategies And Environmental Initiatives Propel Growth Amid Regulatory Changes
Implementation of weather normalization and regulatory approval process reform in Pennsylvania are expected to stabilize earnings and support revenue growth through acquisitions.Essential Utilities: A Solid Replacement For T-Bills And Money Markets
Jul 16Essential Utilities: Why I'm Going To Be Buying More
May 23Essential Utilities: A Quality Company With A Favorable Valuation
May 05Essential Utilities: A High-Quality Dividend Grower To Buy At A Discount
Mar 29Upcoming Dividend Payment
Stability and Growth of Payments
Fetching dividends data
Stable Dividend: WTRG's dividends per share have been stable in the past 10 years.
Growing Dividend: WTRG's dividend payments have increased over the past 10 years.
Dividend Yield vs Market
| Essential Utilities Dividend Yield vs Market |
|---|
| Segment | Dividend Yield |
|---|---|
| Company (WTRG) | 3.7% |
| Market Bottom 25% (US) | 1.3% |
| Market Top 25% (US) | 4.1% |
| Industry Average (Water Utilities) | 3.0% |
| Analyst forecast (WTRG) (up to 3 years) | 4.3% |
Notable Dividend: WTRG's dividend (3.66%) is higher than the bottom 25% of dividend payers in the US market (1.36%).
High Dividend: WTRG's dividend (3.66%) is low compared to the top 25% of dividend payers in the US market (4.18%).
Earnings Payout to Shareholders
Earnings Coverage: With its reasonable payout ratio (54.8%), WTRG's dividend payments are covered by earnings.
Cash Payout to Shareholders
Cash Flow Coverage: WTRG is paying a dividend but the company has no free cash flows.
Discover strong dividend paying companies
Company Analysis and Financial Data Status
| Data | Last Updated (UTC time) |
|---|---|
| Company Analysis | 2026/02/06 12:32 |
| End of Day Share Price | 2026/02/06 00:00 |
| Earnings | 2025/09/30 |
| Annual Earnings | 2024/12/31 |
Data Sources
The data used in our company analysis is from S&P Global Market Intelligence LLC. The following data is used in our analysis model to generate this report. Data is normalised which can introduce a delay from the source being available.
| Package | Data | Timeframe | Example US Source * |
|---|---|---|---|
| Company Financials | 10 years |
| |
| Analyst Consensus Estimates | +3 years |
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| Market Prices | 30 years |
| |
| Ownership | 10 years |
| |
| Management | 10 years |
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| Key Developments | 10 years |
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* Example for US securities, for non-US equivalent regulatory forms and sources are used.
Unless specified all financial data is based on a yearly period but updated quarterly. This is known as Trailing Twelve Month (TTM) or Last Twelve Month (LTM) Data. Learn more.
Analysis Model and Snowflake
Details of the analysis model used to generate this report is available on our Github page, we also have guides on how to use our reports and tutorials on Youtube.
Learn about the world class team who designed and built the Simply Wall St analysis model.
Industry and Sector Metrics
Our industry and section metrics are calculated every 6 hours by Simply Wall St, details of our process are available on Github.
Analyst Sources
Essential Utilities, Inc. is covered by 21 analysts. 3 of those analysts submitted the estimates of revenue or earnings used as inputs to our report. Analysts submissions are updated throughout the day.
| Analyst | Institution |
|---|---|
| Jacob Kilstein | Argus Research Company |
| Davis Sunderland | Baird |
| Benjamin Kallo | Baird |