Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) and Cadiz (NASDAQ:CDZIP) Critical Survey

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

74.8% of Essential Utilities shares are held by institutional investors. 0.4% of Essential Utilities shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Cadiz and Essential Utilities”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Cadiz	$11.84 million	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Essential Utilities	$2.47 billion	4.64	$616.37 million	$1.96	20.65

Essential Utilities has higher revenue and earnings than Cadiz.

Dividends

Cadiz pays an annual dividend of $2.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 9.9%. Essential Utilities pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. Essential Utilities pays out 73.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Essential Utilities has increased its dividend for 32 consecutive years.

Profitability

This table compares Cadiz and Essential Utilities’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cadiz	N/A	N/A	N/A
Essential Utilities	21.60%	8.23%	2.91%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Cadiz and Essential Utilities, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cadiz	0	0	0	0	0.00
Essential Utilities	1	4	2	2	2.56

Essential Utilities has a consensus price target of $43.00, suggesting a potential upside of 6.25%. Given Essential Utilities’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Essential Utilities is more favorable than Cadiz.

Summary

Essential Utilities beats Cadiz on 11 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Cadiz

Cadiz Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides water solutions in the United States. The company operates through Land and Water Resources; and Water Filtration Technology segments. It offers water supply, water storage, water conveyance, and water filtration services. In addition, the company is involved in the cultivation of grain crops and alfalfa, as well as provides water filtration solutions for impaired or contaminated groundwater sources. It serves public water systems, government agencies, and other clients. Cadiz Inc. was founded in 1983 and is based in Los Angeles, California.

About Essential Utilities

Essential Utilities, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates regulated utilities that provide water, wastewater, or natural gas services in the United States. The company operates through Regulated Water and Regulated Natural Gas segments. It offers water services through operating and maintenance contract with municipal authorities and other parties. In addition, the company provides utility service line protection solutions and repair services to households. It serves approximately 5.5 million residential water, commercial water, fire protection, industrial water, wastewater, and other water and utility customers in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas, Illinois, North Carolina, New Jersey, Indiana, Virginia, and Kentucky under the Aqua and Peoples brands. The company was formerly known as Aqua America, Inc. and changed its name to Essential Utilities, Inc. in February 2020. Essential Utilities, Inc. was founded in 1886 and is headquartered in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.