Essential Utilities (WTRG) Competitors

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

Which has more risk & volatility, AWK or WTRG?

American Water Works has a beta of 0.62, suggesting that its stock price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Essential Utilities has a beta of 0.8, suggesting that its stock price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500.

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

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

Is AWK or WTRG more profitable?

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

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

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in AWK or WTRG?

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

Which has stronger earnings and valuation, AWK or WTRG?

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
American Water Works	$4.23B	6.02	$944M	$4.93	26.53
Essential Utilities	$2.05B	5.02	$498.23M	$2.11	17.88

Does the media refer more to AWK or WTRG?

In the previous week, American Water Works had 2 more articles in the media than Essential Utilities. MarketBeat recorded 13 mentions for American Water Works and 11 mentions for Essential Utilities. Essential Utilities' average media sentiment score of 0.93 beat American Water Works' score of 0.24 indicating that American Water Works is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
American Water Works	9 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Essential Utilities	2 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Is AWK or WTRG a better dividend stock?

American Water Works pays an annual dividend of $3.06 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Essential Utilities pays an annual dividend of $1.23 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. American Water Works pays out 62.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Essential Utilities pays out 58.3% 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. American Water Works has raised its dividend for 17 consecutive years and Essential Utilities has raised its dividend for 31 consecutive years. Essential Utilities is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Do analysts rate AWK or WTRG?

American Water Works presently has a consensus target price of $141.33, suggesting a potential upside of 8.08%. Essential Utilities has a consensus target price of $43.00, suggesting a potential upside of 13.97%. Given American Water Works' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Essential Utilities is more favorable than American Water Works.

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

Summary

American Water Works beats Essential Utilities on 12 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.