Is WTRG a high-quality business?

AlphaMadera's AlphaQuality grade scores Essential Utilities, Inc. on six pillars — profitability, capital efficiency, balance-sheet strength, growth durability, cash generation, and shareholder yield. The composite letter grade reflects how WTRG compares to a Buffett-style quality bar.

What is Essential Utilities, Inc.'s AlphaQuality grade?

AlphaQuality assigns a letter grade (A through F) to WTRG based on a six-pillar quantitative model. The live page shows the composite grade plus each pillar's individual score with the underlying metrics.

What makes WTRG a quality stock?

AlphaQuality looks at return on capital, free-cash-flow margins, debt-to-equity, revenue stability, dividend and buyback policy, and operating-margin trend. Stocks scoring well across all six pillars earn higher grades — the methodology favors compounders over cyclicals.

WTRG - Essential Utilities, Inc.

Price: -- -- | CONSENSUS: Buy DETAILS | PRICE TARGET: $40.33 DETAILS

AlphaQuality

Quantitative six-pillar business-quality grade

Stable Earnings Power

AlphaQuality — archetype-weighted quantitative grade

D+ 41.5 / 100 composite

Composite Grade

Composite of six pillars weighted for stable earnings power businesses. Purely quantitative — no stock price or analyst input.

Profitability

Weight: 20%

C 53.6

5yr Avg ROIC 5.1% 35/100
Operating Margin Trend +1.77 pp/yr 97/100

Capital Efficiency

Weight: 15%

D+ 42.1

5yr Avg ROE 7.6% 48/100
5yr Share-Count CAGR 2.1% 31/100

Growth Quality

Weight: 15%

B 70.8

5yr Revenue CAGR 7.1% 71/100
5yr EPS CAGR 7.1% 66/100
Revenue-Growth Years (5) 4/5 80/100

Cash Generation

Weight: 15%

F 0.0

5yr FCF Margin -19.4% 0/100
5yr FCF/NI Conversion -0.80x 0/100

Balance Sheet

Weight: 20%

F 19.5

Net Debt / EBITDA 6.08x 7/100
Interest Coverage (EBIT/Int) 2.88x 43/100
Altman Z-Score 0.93 14/100

Stability

Weight: 15%

B- 66.4

EPS Volatility (σ/μ) 0.29 59/100
Piotroski F-Score 6 67/100
Negative-Revenue Years (5) 1/5 80/100

5 of 5 gurus held; 2 new buys; 2 added; 1 trimmed.

Holders: 5 +3
Avg Δ position: -0.1%
New buys: 2
Full exits: 0

Cooperman new
Laffont new
Greenblatt decreased -3%

How this is calculated

AlphaQuality grades six pillars from 0-100 and weights each by archetype:

Profitability (20%) — 5yr Avg ROIC, Operating Margin Trend
Capital Efficiency (15%) — 5yr Avg ROE, 5yr Share-Count CAGR
Growth Quality (15%) — 5yr Revenue CAGR, 5yr EPS CAGR, Revenue-Growth Years (5)
Cash Generation (15%) — 5yr FCF Margin, 5yr FCF/NI Conversion
Balance Sheet (20%) — Net Debt / EBITDA, Interest Coverage (EBIT/Int), Altman Z-Score
Stability (15%) — EPS Volatility (σ/μ), Piotroski F-Score, Negative-Revenue Years (5)

We deliberately ignore stock price, analyst targets, and consensus ratings so the grade is suitable for backtesting forward returns. A minimum of 5 fiscal years of audited statements is required; distressed and highly leveraged infrastructure businesses are declared ungradable rather than forced into a numeric score.