Compare Essential Utilities Inc. Common Stock (WTRG) vs Yum! Brands, Inc. (YUM) Price & Performance
Price performance (Past 24H)
Key statistics
Key statistics
Essential Utilities Inc. Common Stock vs Yum! Brands, Inc. — how do they compare? Essential Utilities Inc. Common Stock trades at $39.82 (market cap $11.15B), while Yum! Brands, Inc. trades at $146.68 (market cap $40.13B). The key difference: Yum! Brands, Inc. is far larger — about 3.6× Essential Utilities Inc. Common Stock's market cap, and Essential Utilities Inc. Common Stock pays the higher dividend (3.67%). Which is the better fit depends on your goals — on Pluang, investors hold Essential Utilities Inc. Common Stock for 0 Days and Yum! Brands, Inc. for 133 Days on average.
| WTRG | YUM | |
|---|---|---|
Market Cap | $11.15B | $40.13B |
Volume | 1,760,234 | 2,329,777 |
Sector | Utilities | Consumer Cyclical |
52-Week High | $42.00 | $168.16 |
52-Week Low | $36.25 | $135.77 |
Typical Hold Time | 0 Days | 133 Days |
Enterprise Value | $19.66B | $51.73B |
Dividend Yield | 3.67% | 2.04% |
Aura AI Summary
Signals from Pluang's Aura AI — not financial advice
Aura AI Summary
Signals from Pluang's Aura AI — not financial advice
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.
YUM Brands trades at $146.69, showing minimal daily movement (-0.04%). The stock maintains a bullish technical outlook with strong moving average signals, though RSI levels suggest potential overbought conditions. Fundamentally, YUM demonstrates solid revenue growth from $8.21B in 2025 to projected $8.7B in 2026, with net income margins improving to 25.4%. Recent strategic moves include the Pizza Hut divestiture and KFC's Open House concept launch, positioning the company for focused growth in its core brands.
YUM presents a compelling opportunity with analyst consensus target of $170.44 (16% upside), supported by consistent earnings beats and dividend growth. However, high debt levels ($11.25B long-term) and competitive pressures in the QSR space present notable risks. The company's streamlined portfolio and operational efficiency improvements provide catalysts for continued shareholder value creation amid industry headwinds.
Returns comparison
Trailing returns across standard periods
Returns comparison
Trailing returns across standard periods
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About Essential Utilities Inc. Common Stock
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 →About Yum! Brands, Inc.
Yum Brands is a U.S.-based restaurant operator featuring a portfolio of four brands: KFC (26,930 global units), Pizza Hut (18,380 units), Taco Bell (7,790 units), and The Habit Burger (310 units) at year-end 2021. With $58 billion in 2021 systemwide sales, the firm is the second-largest restaurant company in the world, behind McDonald's ($112.5 billion) but ahead of Restaurant Brands International ($36 billion) and Starbucks ($25 billion). Yum is 98% franchised, with the largest franchisee, Yum China, created via a 2016 spinoff transaction (after which Yum China agreed to pay 3% royalties to Yum Brands in perpetuity). Yum is the newest evolution of Tricon Brands, formerly a division of PepsiCo, and generates the bulk of its revenue from franchise royalties and marketing contributions.
Read more on YUM →
