WTRG vs. XEL, VG, CQP, FTS, EBR, LNT, EVRG, WES, KEP, and SBS
Should you be buying Essential Utilities stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Essential Utilities include Xcel Energy (XEL), Venture Global (VG), Cheniere Energy Partners (CQP), Fortis (FTS), Centrais Elétricas Brasileiras S.A. - Eletrobrás (EBR), Alliant Energy (LNT), Evergy (EVRG), Western Midstream Partners (WES), Korea Electric Power (KEP), and Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP (SBS). These companies are all part of the "utilities" industry.
Essential Utilities vs. Its Competitors
Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) and Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) are both large-cap utilities companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, community ranking, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, dividends, risk and media sentiment.
In the previous week, Xcel Energy had 2 more articles in the media than Essential Utilities. MarketBeat recorded 10 mentions for Xcel Energy and 8 mentions for Essential Utilities. Essential Utilities' average media sentiment score of 1.37 beat Xcel Energy's score of 0.84 indicating that Essential Utilities is being referred to more favorably in the media.
Essential Utilities has a beta of 0.81, indicating that its stock price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Xcel Energy has a beta of 0.37, indicating that its stock price is 63% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Essential Utilities has a net margin of 27.84% compared to Xcel Energy's net margin of 14.40%. Xcel Energy's return on equity of 10.65% beat Essential Utilities' return on equity.
Xcel Energy has higher revenue and earnings than Essential Utilities. Essential Utilities is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Xcel Energy, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
74.8% of Essential Utilities shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.4% of Xcel Energy shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of Essential Utilities shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Xcel Energy shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Essential Utilities pays an annual dividend of $1.30 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Xcel Energy pays an annual dividend of $2.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Essential Utilities pays out 58.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Xcel Energy pays out 67.1% 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 has raised its dividend for 32 consecutive years and Xcel Energy has raised its dividend for 22 consecutive years. Essential Utilities is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.
Essential Utilities presently has a consensus target price of $43.50, indicating a potential upside of 14.19%. Xcel Energy has a consensus target price of $75.90, indicating a potential upside of 11.21%. Given Essential Utilities' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Essential Utilities is more favorable than Xcel Energy.
Xcel Energy received 16 more outperform votes than Essential Utilities when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 36.67% of users gave Essential Utilities an outperform vote while only 32.24% of users gave Xcel Energy an outperform vote.
Summary
Essential Utilities beats Xcel Energy on 11 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.
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New MarketBeat Followers Over Time
This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding WTRG and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period.
Media Sentiment Over Time
This chart shows the average media sentiment of NYSE and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.
Essential Utilities Competitors List
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This page (NYSE:WTRG) was last updated on 6/11/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff
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