Essential Utilities (WTRG) Competitors

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

Does the media prefer WTRG or VST?

In the previous week, Vistra had 19 more articles in the media than Essential Utilities. MarketBeat recorded 40 mentions for Vistra and 21 mentions for Essential Utilities. Vistra's average media sentiment score of 1.29 beat Essential Utilities' score of 0.64 indicating that Vistra is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Essential Utilities	10 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Vistra	28 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	3 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is WTRG or VST more profitable?

Essential Utilities has a net margin of 27.84% compared to Vistra's net margin of 12.51%. Vistra's return on equity of 57.63% beat Essential Utilities' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Essential Utilities	27.84%	7.89%	2.79%
Vistra	12.51%	57.63%	6.02%

Which has preferable valuation & earnings, WTRG or VST?

Vistra has higher revenue and earnings than Essential Utilities. Essential Utilities is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Vistra, 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	$2.09B	5.00	$498.23M	$2.17	17.48
Vistra	$17.22B	2.60	$1.49B	$7.05	18.69

Do analysts rate WTRG or VST?

Essential Utilities presently has a consensus price target of $43.50, indicating a potential upside of 14.65%. Vistra has a consensus price target of $162.83, indicating a potential upside of 23.59%. Given Vistra's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Vistra is more favorable than Essential Utilities.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Essential Utilities	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.83
Vistra	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	11 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.85

Does the MarketBeat Community favor WTRG or VST?

Vistra received 275 more outperform votes than Essential Utilities when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 67.32% of users gave Vistra an outperform vote while only 37.21% of users gave Essential Utilities an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Essential Utilities	Outperform Votes 32 37.21%	Underperform Votes 54 62.79%
Vistra	Outperform Votes 307 67.32%	Underperform Votes 149 32.68%

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of WTRG or VST?

74.8% of Essential Utilities shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.9% of Vistra shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of Essential Utilities shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.4% of Vistra shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has more risk & volatility, WTRG or VST?

Essential Utilities has a beta of 0.79, suggesting that its share price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Vistra has a beta of 1.21, suggesting that its share price is 21% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is WTRG or VST a better dividend stock?

Essential Utilities pays an annual dividend of $1.30 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Vistra pays an annual dividend of $0.89 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Essential Utilities pays out 59.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Vistra pays out 12.6% 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 has increased its dividend for 32 consecutive years. Essential Utilities is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Vistra beats Essential Utilities on 17 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.