National Fuel Gas vs Essential Utilities
NFG and WTRG side by side. Figures are trailing twelve months unless noted, from SEC filings and end-of-day prices.
How NFG and WTRG compare
Essential Utilities is the larger company, worth 1.6 times as much as National Fuel Gas ($12.3B against $7.6B).
On earnings, National Fuel Gas is cheaper: it trades at 11.0× trailing earnings, against 22.2× for Essential Utilities.
National Fuel Gas grew revenue faster over the last twelve months (15.1% versus 9.9% for Essential Utilities).
National Fuel Gas keeps more of each dollar of sales as profit, with a net margin of 26.9% compared with 21.6% at Essential Utilities.
Both pay dividends: National Fuel Gas yields 2.7% and Essential Utilities 3.2%.
National Fuel Gas scores higher on the StockData Score (16 against 8 for Essential Utilities), which adds up 30 checks on valuation, growth, past performance, financial health and dividends.
Key numbers
A dot marks the better figure where higher or lower is clearly better.
| Metric | NFG | WTRG |
|---|---|---|
| Size and price | ||
| Market cap | $7.6B | $12.3B |
| Share price | $79.55 | $43.52 |
| Change, 1 year | 0.70% | 11.1% |
| Change, 5 years | 34.1% | −8.6% |
| Beta (5Y) | 0.38 | 0.33 |
| Employees | 2,322 | 3,303 |
| StockData Score | ||
| Total score | 16 (better) | 8 |
| Valuation score | 5 (better) | 2 |
| Growth score | 2 (better) | 1 |
| Performance score | 2 | 2 |
| Health score | 3 (better) | 0 |
| Dividend score | 4 (better) | 3 |
| Valuation | ||
| P/E | 11.0× (better) | 22.2× |
| P/S | 3.0× (better) | 4.8× |
| P/B | – | 1.8× |
| EV/EBITDA | 6.6× (better) | 15.5× |
| P/FCF | 34.0× | – |
| PEG | – | 2.95 |
| FCF yield | 2.9% | – |
| Fair value | $120.99 | $42.81 |
| Margin of safety | 34.3% (better) | −1.7% |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth (TTM) | 15.1% (better) | 9.9% |
| Revenue growth, 5Y average | 8.1% | 11.1% (better) |
| Net income growth (TTM) | 177% (better) | −14.1% |
| EPS growth (TTM) | 169% (better) | −15.9% |
| EPS growth, 5Y average | – | 14.5% |
| Profitability | ||
| Operating margin | 40.3% (better) | 35.1% |
| Net margin | 26.9% (better) | 21.6% |
| FCF margin | 8.8% | – |
| Return on equity | – | 8.1% |
| Return on invested capital | – | 5.7% |
| Financial health | ||
| Debt / equity | – | 1.21 |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 1.56 (better) | 6.31 |
| Interest coverage | 6.8× (better) | 2.6× |
| Current ratio | 3.20 (better) | 0.78 |
| Altman Z-score | 1.71 (better) | 1.01 |
| Piotroski F-score | 7 (better) | 5 |
| Dividends and buybacks | ||
| Dividend yield | 2.7% | 3.2% (better) |
| Payout ratio | 29.4% | 69.8% |
| Years of dividend growth | 16 | 16 |
| Dividend growth, 5Y average | 3.6% | 6.6% (better) |
| Buyback yield | 0.00% (better) | −0.10% |
| Shareholder yield | 2.7% | 3.1% (better) |
| Ownership | ||
| Held by institutions | 83.6% | 79.0% |
| Held by insiders | 1.4% | 4.4% |
| Insider net buying, 12 months | – | −$113K |
| Short interest, % of float | 5.4% | 2.4% |
Go deeper
- NFG stock overview
- NFG income statement
- NFG valuation and score
- WTRG stock overview
- WTRG income statement
- WTRG valuation and score
Other comparisons
For information only, not investment advice. Check the source filings before relying on any figure.