Essential Utilities (WTRG) Competitors $41.24 -0.07 (-0.16%) Closing price 03:59 PM EasternExtended Trading$41.69 +0.45 (+1.10%) As of 07:18 PM Eastern Extended trading is trading that happens on electronic markets outside of regular trading hours. This is a fair market value extended hours price provided by Polygon.io. Learn more. Add Compare Share Share Competitors Stock AnalysisAnalyst ForecastsChartCompetitorsDividendEarningsFinancialsHeadlinesInsider TradesOptions ChainOwnershipSEC FilingsShort InterestSustainabilityTrendsBuy This Stock WTRG vs. LNT, AWK, AWR, CMS, CWT, DTE, DUK, ED, OGE, and WECShould you be buying Essential Utilities stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Essential Utilities include Alliant Energy (LNT), American Water Works (AWK), American States Water (AWR), CMS Energy (CMS), California Water Service Group (CWT), DTE Energy (DTE), Duke Energy (DUK), Consolidated Edison (ED), OGE Energy (OGE), and WEC Energy Group (WEC). These companies are all part of the "utilities" sector. Essential Utilities vs. Its Competitors Alliant Energy American Water Works American States Water CMS Energy California Water Service Group DTE Energy Duke Energy Consolidated Edison OGE Energy WEC Energy Group Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) and Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) are both large-cap utilities companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, profitability, media sentiment and risk. Does the media favor WTRG or LNT? In the previous week, Essential Utilities had 11 more articles in the media than Alliant Energy. MarketBeat recorded 28 mentions for Essential Utilities and 17 mentions for Alliant Energy. Alliant Energy's average media sentiment score of 1.23 beat Essential Utilities' score of 0.50 indicating that Alliant Energy is being referred to more favorably in the news media. Company Very Positive Positive Neutral Negative Very Negative Overall Sentiment Essential Utilities 6 Very Positive mention(s) 5 Positive mention(s) 3 Neutral mention(s) 0 Negative mention(s) 0 Very Negative mention(s) Neutral Alliant Energy 9 Very Positive mention(s) 5 Positive mention(s) 0 Neutral mention(s) 0 Negative mention(s) 0 Very Negative mention(s) Positive Which has more volatility & risk, WTRG or LNT? Essential Utilities has a beta of 0.82, indicating that its stock price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Alliant Energy has a beta of 0.54, indicating that its stock price is 46% less volatile than the S&P 500. Do analysts recommend WTRG or LNT? Essential Utilities currently has a consensus target price of $45.17, suggesting a potential upside of 9.53%. Alliant Energy has a consensus target price of $68.56, suggesting a potential downside of 0.60%. Given Essential Utilities' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Essential Utilities is more favorable than Alliant Energy.Company Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Essential Utilities 0 Sell rating(s) 2 Hold rating(s) 5 Buy rating(s) 1 Strong Buy rating(s) 2.88Alliant Energy 1 Sell rating(s) 3 Hold rating(s) 6 Buy rating(s) 0 Strong Buy rating(s) 2.50 Which has stronger valuation and earnings, WTRG or LNT? Alliant Energy has higher revenue and earnings than Essential Utilities. Essential Utilities is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Alliant Energy, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks. CompanyGross RevenuePrice/Sales RatioNet IncomeEarnings Per SharePrice/Earnings RatioEssential Utilities$2.09B5.54$595.31M$2.3317.70Alliant Energy$3.98B4.45$690M$3.2421.29 Is WTRG or LNT more profitable? Essential Utilities has a net margin of 27.62% compared to Alliant Energy's net margin of 20.07%. Alliant Energy's return on equity of 12.25% beat Essential Utilities' return on equity.Company Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Essential Utilities27.62% 10.10% 3.56% Alliant Energy 20.07%12.25%3.75% Is WTRG or LNT a better dividend stock? Essential Utilities pays an annual dividend of $1.37 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Alliant Energy pays an annual dividend of $2.03 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Essential Utilities pays out 58.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Alliant Energy pays out 62.7% 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 Alliant 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. Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of WTRG or LNT? 74.8% of Essential Utilities shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 79.9% of Alliant Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of Essential Utilities shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Alliant Energy shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term. SummaryEssential Utilities and Alliant Energy tied by winning 10 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks. Get Essential Utilities News Delivered to You Automatically Sign up to receive the latest news and ratings for WTRG and its competitors with MarketBeat's FREE daily newsletter. Subscribe Now View SMS TermsBy entering your phone number and clicking the sign-up button, you agree to receive periodic text messages from MarketBeat at the phone number you submitted, including texts that may be sent using an automatic telephone dialing system. Message and data rates may apply. Message frequency will vary. Messages will consist of stock alerts, news stories, and partner advertisements/offers. Consent is not a condition of the purchase of any goods or services. Text HELP for help/customer support. Unsubscribe at any time by replying "STOP" to any text message that you receive from MarketBeat or by visiting our mailing preferences page. Read our full terms of service and privacy policy. New MarketBeat Followers Over TimeWhat are MarkeBeat Followers?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. Skip ChartMedia Sentiment Over TimeWhat is Media Sentiment?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.Skip Chart WTRG vs. The Competition Export to ExcelMetricEssential UtilitiesUTIL IndustryUtilities SectorNYSE ExchangeMarket Cap$11.58B$7.49B$17.15B$22.01BDividend Yield3.32%2.58%4.54%3.57%P/E Ratio17.7019.2519.3433.18Price / Sales5.544.6832.3061.67Price / Cash12.4613.8019.3624.54Price / Book1.832.442.324.66Net Income$595.31M$420.94M$748.50M$1.01B7 Day Performance-0.15%0.82%0.35%2.22%1 Month Performance9.07%4.58%8.47%1.17%1 Year Performance4.58%5.85%49.20%13.47% Essential Utilities Competitors List Export to ExcelCompanyMarketRankShare PriceAnalysts' Price Target1Y Price PerformanceMarket CapRevenueP/E RatioEmployee CountIndicator(s)WTRGEssential Utilities4.741 of 5 stars$41.24-0.2%$45.17+9.5%+2.5%$11.58B$2.09B17.703,291Trending NewsDividend AnnouncementAnalyst UpgradeAnalyst RevisionLNTAlliant Energy3.9695 of 5 stars$68.07+0.7%$68.00-0.1%+10.8%$17.37B$3.98B21.012,998Positive NewsAnalyst UpgradeAWKAmerican Water Works4.5247 of 5 stars$144.02+0.6%$145.00+0.7%+0.3%$27.94B$4.68B25.956,700Positive NewsUpcoming EarningsAnalyst ForecastAWRAmerican States Water3.6318 of 5 stars$75.58+0.4%$77.50+2.5%-9.4%$2.90B$595.46M23.11810News CoveragePositive NewsAnalyst ForecastCMSCMS Energy4.1485 of 5 stars$74.720.0%$78.00+4.4%+3.4%$22.38B$8.02B22.118,324Positive NewsUpcoming EarningsDividend AnnouncementAnalyst ForecastCWTCalifornia Water Service Group4.6362 of 5 stars$48.63+0.5%$56.00+15.2%-5.8%$2.88B$1.04B21.241,278News CoveragePositive NewsUpcoming EarningsAnalyst ForecastDTEDTE Energy4.6366 of 5 stars$141.99+0.3%$146.08+2.9%+8.9%$29.37B$14.20B20.439,500Positive NewsUpcoming EarningsAnalyst ForecastDUKDuke Energy4.3252 of 5 stars$128.55+0.9%$136.77+6.4%+5.5%$99.07B$30.36B20.9026,413Trending NewsAnalyst ForecastEDConsolidated Edison4.0907 of 5 stars$101.14+0.1%$105.92+4.7%-6.2%$36.45B$16.15B18.3615,097Positive NewsAnalyst ForecastOGEOGE Energy4.581 of 5 stars$46.47+0.1%$47.00+1.1%+12.6%$9.35B$2.99B19.052,291Positive NewsUpcoming EarningsAnalyst ForecastWECWEC Energy Group4.363 of 5 stars$116.84+0.6%$114.64-1.9%+16.5%$37.40B$8.60B22.387,017Positive NewsUpcoming EarningsAnalyst Forecast Related Companies and Tools Related Companies LNT Alternatives AWK Alternatives AWR Alternatives CMS Alternatives CWT Alternatives DTE Alternatives DUK Alternatives ED Alternatives OGE Alternatives WEC Alternatives Top 10 Stock Comparisons Semiconductor Stocks Artificial Intelligence Stocks Growth Stocks Magnificent Seven Stocks Pharmaceutical Stocks Ecommerce Stocks Bitcoin Stocks Meme Stocks Cryptocurrency Stocks Cybersecurity Stocks This page (NYSE:WTRG) was last updated on 10/24/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff From Our PartnersNext opportunity for crypto millionsThe floodgates have opened. 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