Vanguard Real Estate Index Fund ETF vs Essential Utilities Inc. Common Stock — how do they compare? Vanguard Real Estate Index Fund ETF trades at $90.38 (market cap $70.80B), while Essential Utilities Inc. Common Stock trades at $39.82 (market cap $11.31B). The key difference: Vanguard Real Estate Index Fund ETF is far larger — about 6.3× Essential Utilities Inc. Common Stock's market cap, and Essential Utilities Inc. Common Stock pays a 3.62% dividend while Vanguard Real Estate Index Fund ETF pays none. Which is the better fit depends on your goals — on Pluang, investors hold Vanguard Real Estate Index Fund ETF for 113 Days and Essential Utilities Inc. Common Stock for 0 Days on average.
| VNQ | WTRG | |
|---|---|---|
Market Cap | $70.80B | $11.31B |
Volume | 3,568,223 | 2,459,172 |
52-Week High | $100.95 | $42.00 |
52-Week Low | $87.00 | $36.25 |
Typical Hold Time | 113 Days | 0 Days |
Sector | — | Utilities |
Enterprise Value | — | $19.82B |
Dividend Yield | — | 3.62% |
Signals from Pluang's Aura AI — not financial advice
VNQ, the Vanguard Real Estate ETF, trades at $91.14, down 0.24% on the day, with a mixed technical picture showing a bullish overall signal but bearish moving averages. Recent news highlights pressure from rising Treasury yields and Fed rate hikes, contributing to a nearly 10% decline over the past month. The ETF's dividend yield is now competitive with T-bills, but sector headwinds persist due to interest rate sensitivity.
Outlook remains cautious amid interest rate uncertainty, with potential long-term value for contrarian investors. Risks include further rate hikes eroding income appeal, while opportunities lie in historically attractive entry points for well-capitalized REITs. Investors should weigh yield sustainability against macroeconomic trends.
WTRG trades at $39.29, up 0.36% with neutral technical signals. The stock shows mixed earnings performance with two beats and one miss in recent quarters, while maintaining strong profitability margins (21.6% net income margin). Analyst consensus is bullish with a $44.50 price target, supported by ongoing acquisitions and pending merger developments with American Water.
The stock presents a stable utility investment with moderate growth potential through strategic acquisitions, though near-term earnings volatility and integration risks from the pending merger warrant caution. Current valuation at 20.15 P/E appears reasonable given the company's consistent cash flow generation and defensive sector positioning.
Trailing returns across standard periods
What Pluang investors did over the last 30 days
The fund employs an indexing investment approach designed to track the performance of the MSCI US Investable Market Real Estate 25/50 Index, an index made up of stocks of large, mid-size, and small US companies within the real estate sector. The Advisor attempts to replicate the target index by seeking to invest all of its assets in the stocks that make up the index, in order to hold each stock in approximately the same proportion as its weighting in the index. It is non-diversified.
Read more on VNQ →Essential Utilities Inc. is a holding company for regulated water, wastewater, and natural gas utilities, operating under the Aqua and Peoples brands. It serves customers across Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas, Illinois, North Carolina, New Jersey, Indiana, Virginia, and Kentucky.
Read more on WTRG →