NorthWestern (NWE) Competitors

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

Does the media favor WTRG or NWE?

In the previous week, Essential Utilities had 10 more articles in the media than NorthWestern. MarketBeat recorded 10 mentions for Essential Utilities and 0 mentions for NorthWestern. Essential Utilities' average media sentiment score of 1.64 beat NorthWestern's score of 0.00 indicating that Essential Utilities is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Essential Utilities	Very Positive
NorthWestern	Neutral

Is WTRG or NWE more profitable?

Essential Utilities has a net margin of 27.62% compared to NorthWestern's net margin of 14.76%. Essential Utilities' return on equity of 10.10% beat NorthWestern's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Essential Utilities	27.62%	10.10%	3.56%
NorthWestern	14.76%	7.30%	2.61%

Is WTRG or NWE a better dividend stock?

Essential Utilities pays an annual dividend of $1.37 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. NorthWestern pays an annual dividend of $2.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.8%. Essential Utilities pays out 58.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. NorthWestern pays out 71.9% 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 and NorthWestern has increased its dividend for 21 consecutive years.

Do analysts recommend WTRG or NWE?

Essential Utilities presently has a consensus target price of $44.50, suggesting a potential upside of 13.67%. NorthWestern has a consensus target price of $56.00, suggesting a potential upside of 1.10%. Given Essential Utilities' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Essential Utilities is more favorable than NorthWestern.

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
NorthWestern	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

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

74.8% of Essential Utilities shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.1% of NorthWestern shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of Essential Utilities shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of NorthWestern shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has more risk and volatility, WTRG or NWE?

Essential Utilities has a beta of 0.78, indicating that its stock price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, NorthWestern has a beta of 0.35, indicating that its stock price is 65% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has stronger earnings & valuation, WTRG or NWE?

Essential Utilities has higher revenue and earnings than NorthWestern. NorthWestern is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Essential Utilities, 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	5.26	$595.31M	$2.33	16.80
NorthWestern	$1.51B	2.25	$224.11M	$3.67	15.09

Summary

Essential Utilities beats NorthWestern on 15 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.