Essential Utilities (WTRG) Competitors

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) and Venture Global (NYSE:VG) are both large-cap utilities companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, media sentiment, dividends, risk, profitability and institutional ownership.

Is WTRG or VG more profitable?

Essential Utilities has a net margin of 27.17% compared to Venture Global's net margin of 0.00%. Essential Utilities' return on equity of 9.81% beat Venture Global's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Essential Utilities	27.17%	9.81%	3.45%
Venture Global	N/A	N/A	N/A

Which has better earnings and valuation, WTRG or VG?

Venture Global has higher revenue and earnings than Essential Utilities.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Essential Utilities	$2.09B	4.95	$595.31M	$2.23	16.51
Venture Global	$4.97B	7.57	$1.75B	N/A	N/A

Is WTRG or VG a better dividend stock?

Essential Utilities pays an annual dividend of $1.30 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. Venture Global pays an annual dividend of $0.07 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. Essential Utilities pays out 58.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Essential Utilities has raised its dividend for 32 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 VG?

Essential Utilities presently has a consensus price target of $43.50, indicating a potential upside of 18.14%. Venture Global has a consensus price target of $16.77, indicating a potential upside of 7.77%. Given Essential Utilities' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Essential Utilities is more favorable than Venture Global.

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
Venture Global	1 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.54

Does the media refer more to WTRG or VG?

In the previous week, Venture Global had 3 more articles in the media than Essential Utilities. MarketBeat recorded 15 mentions for Venture Global and 12 mentions for Essential Utilities. Essential Utilities' average media sentiment score of 0.97 beat Venture Global's score of 0.64 indicating that Essential Utilities is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Essential Utilities	7 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Venture Global	5 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	8 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do institutionals and insiders believe in WTRG or VG?

74.8% of Essential Utilities shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of Essential Utilities shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 86.7% of Venture Global shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Essential Utilities beats Venture Global on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.