Global Water Resources (GWRS) Competitors

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) and Global Water Resources (NASDAQ:GWRS) are both utilities companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, risk, dividends, media sentiment and earnings.

Is WTRG or GWRS a better dividend stock?

Essential Utilities pays an annual dividend of $1.37 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Global Water Resources pays an annual dividend of $0.30 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Essential Utilities pays out 58.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Global Water Resources pays out 136.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Essential Utilities has increased its dividend for 32 consecutive years and Global Water Resources has increased its dividend for 8 consecutive years. Essential Utilities is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Do analysts prefer WTRG or GWRS?

Essential Utilities presently has a consensus price target of $45.17, suggesting a potential upside of 11.39%. Given Essential Utilities' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Essential Utilities is more favorable than Global Water Resources.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Essential Utilities	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.63
Global Water Resources	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Is WTRG or GWRS more profitable?

Essential Utilities has a net margin of 27.62% compared to Global Water Resources' net margin of 10.27%. Essential Utilities' return on equity of 10.10% beat Global Water Resources' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Essential Utilities	27.62%	10.10%	3.56%
Global Water Resources	10.27%	9.67%	1.42%

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, WTRG or GWRS?

Essential Utilities has higher revenue and earnings than Global Water Resources. Essential Utilities is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Global Water Resources, 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	5.45	$595.31M	$2.33	17.40
Global Water Resources	$52.69M	5.70	$5.79M	$0.22	49.66

Which has more risk & volatility, WTRG or GWRS?

Essential Utilities has a beta of 0.82, meaning that its share price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Global Water Resources has a beta of 1.06, meaning that its share price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media refer more to WTRG or GWRS?

In the previous week, Essential Utilities had 7 more articles in the media than Global Water Resources. MarketBeat recorded 11 mentions for Essential Utilities and 4 mentions for Global Water Resources. Global Water Resources' average media sentiment score of 1.03 beat Essential Utilities' score of 1.01 indicating that Global Water Resources is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Essential Utilities	5 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Global Water Resources	1 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

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

74.8% of Essential Utilities shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 27.9% of Global Water Resources shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of Essential Utilities shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 54.3% of Global Water Resources shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Essential Utilities beats Global Water Resources on 14 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.