Essential Utilities (WTRG) Competitors

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) and American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) are both large-cap utilities companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their media sentiment, profitability, risk, dividends, institutional ownership, community ranking, earnings, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Does the media prefer WTRG or AWK?

In the previous week, American Water Works had 10 more articles in the media than Essential Utilities. MarketBeat recorded 14 mentions for American Water Works and 4 mentions for Essential Utilities. Essential Utilities' average media sentiment score of 1.73 beat American Water Works' score of 1.27 indicating that Essential Utilities is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Essential Utilities	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
American Water Works	9 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has stronger valuation & earnings, WTRG or AWK?

American Water Works has higher revenue and earnings than Essential Utilities. Essential Utilities is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than American Water Works, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Essential Utilities	$2.05B	4.92	$498.23M	$2.11	17.50
American Water Works	$4.23B	5.90	$944M	$4.93	26.01

Do insiders & institutionals believe in WTRG or AWK?

74.8% of Essential Utilities shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.6% of American Water Works shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of Essential Utilities shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of American Water Works shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor WTRG or AWK?

American Water Works received 469 more outperform votes than Essential Utilities when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 64.78% of users gave American Water Works an outperform vote while only 30.14% of users gave Essential Utilities an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Essential Utilities	Outperform Votes 22 30.14%	Underperform Votes 51 69.86%
American Water Works	Outperform Votes 491 64.78%	Underperform Votes 267 35.22%

Do analysts prefer WTRG or AWK?

Essential Utilities currently has a consensus target price of $43.00, suggesting a potential upside of 16.78%. American Water Works has a consensus target price of $141.33, suggesting a potential upside of 10.16%. Given Essential Utilities' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Essential Utilities is more favorable than American Water Works.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Essential Utilities	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
American Water Works	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Which has more risk & volatility, WTRG or AWK?

Essential Utilities has a beta of 0.84, suggesting that its stock price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, American Water Works has a beta of 0.67, suggesting that its stock price is 33% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is WTRG or AWK more profitable?

Essential Utilities has a net margin of 29.52% compared to American Water Works' net margin of 22.27%. American Water Works' return on equity of 9.74% beat Essential Utilities' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Essential Utilities	29.52%	8.62%	3.05%
American Water Works	22.27%	9.74%	3.18%

Is WTRG or AWK a better dividend stock?

Essential Utilities pays an annual dividend of $1.23 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. American Water Works pays an annual dividend of $3.06 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Essential Utilities pays out 58.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. American Water Works pays out 62.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Essential Utilities is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

American Water Works beats Essential Utilities on 11 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.