DUK vs ES vs WTRG Stock Comparison

Duke Energy, Eversource Energy and Essential Utilities Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
DUK Duke Energy CORP
$124.97 +9.4% 1M -1.8% 1Y
Market cap
$96.91B
P/E
19.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$33.17B
Div. yield
0.03%
Regulated Electric Utilities Utilities
4 wins
ES Eversource Energy
$67.47 +3.9% 1M -8.7% 1Y
Market cap
$25.40B
P/E
14.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$13.93B
Div. yield
0.04%
Regulated Electric Utilities Utilities
5 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Eversource Energy leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Eversource Energy 5, Duke Energy 4, Essential Utilities 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionDUKESWTRGLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $96.91B $25.40B $12.14B DUK
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 19.1x 14.5x 21.9x ES
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 19.1x 15.3x 18.2x ES
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +7.2% +9.8% +9.9% WTRG
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 15.3% 12.5% 21.6% WTRG
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 5.4% 6.2% 5.5% ES
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 5.2x 6.2x 6.4x DUK
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.03% 0.04% 0.03% ES
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -1.8% -8.7% +4.4% WTRG
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +3.8%/yr -4.9%/yr -1.7%/yr DUK
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 16.6% 24.8% 22.3% DUK
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 56/100 69/100 45/100 ES

Percentile Scorecard

DUKESWTRG

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisDUKESWTRG
Valuation 70 #21 of 67 86 #10 of 67 18 #55 of 67
Growth 75 #17 of 65 97 #3 of 65 31 #45 of 65
Profitability 80 #14 of 65 70 #20 of 65 64 #24 of 65
Financial Health 35 #43 of 66 5 #63 of 66 59 #28 of 66
Shareholder Returns 23 #52 of 67 85 #11 of 67 55 #31 of 67
Overall 56 69 45
  • DUK ranked among 67 companies in Regulated Utilities
  • ES ranked among 67 companies in Regulated Utilities
  • WTRG ranked among 67 companies in Regulated Utilities

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodDUKESWTRGSPY
1 month +9.4%+3.9%+7.3% -1.0%
3 months -4.3%-10.0%+8.8% +2.9%
6 months -1.8%-1.7%+9.1% +6.4%
Year to date +6.6%+0.2%+12.4% +11.4%
1 year -1.8%-8.7%+4.4% +13.1%
3 years +42.4%+24.9%+29.7% +79.4%
3 years, per year +12.5%+7.7%+9.1% +21.5%
5 years +20.4%-22.0%-8.1% +67.7%
5 years, per year +3.8%-4.9%-1.7% +10.9%
10 years +60.2%+24.9%+45.9% +255.2%
10 years, per year +4.8%+2.3%+3.9% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureDUKESWTRGSPY
Volatility, 1Y 16.6%24.8%22.3% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 17.0%29.3%20.1% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.310.01-0.45 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.11-0.350.20 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -26.0%-44.2%-39.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -6.4%-11.5%-0.4% -2.5%
52-week high $133.46$76.21$43.28 $779.14
52-week low $113.24$63.29$36.25 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleDUKESWTRG
P/E now vs peer median 19.1xmedian 20.8x 14.5xmedian 20.8x 22.0xmedian 20.8x
P/S now vs peer median 2.9xmedian 2.8x 1.8xmedian 2.8x 4.8xmedian 2.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 11.0xmedian 13.1x 11.6xmedian 13.1x 15.5xmedian 13.1x
P/FCF now vs peer median -29.5xmedian 36.7x 107.2xmedian 36.7x -27.1xmedian 36.7x
P/B now vs peer median 1.7xmedian 1.7x 1.5xmedian 1.7x 1.7xmedian 1.7x
PEG now vs peer median 0.68median 2.27 3.85median 2.27 6.26median 2.27

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsDUKESWTRG
Revenue $33.17B $13.93B $2.57B
Gross profit $24.71B – –
Operating income $9.01B $3.14B $900.69M
Net income $5.24B $1.76B $554.87M
Free cash flow -$3.30B $236.71M -$451.91M
EPS (diluted) $6.53 $4.64 $1.95
Cash & equivalents $2.14B – $8.63M
Total debt $352.76B $29.62B $33.10B
Shares (diluted) 779.00M 376.58M 284.09M
Enterprise value $93.49B $25.40B $12.01B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricDUKESWTRG
P/E 19.1x 14.5x 22.0x
P/FCF -29.5x 107.2x -27.1x
P/Operating cash flow 8.3x 5.8x 11.9x
P/S 2.9x 1.8x 4.8x
P/B 1.7x 1.5x 1.7x
P/Tangible book 1.7x 1.5x 1.7x
EV/EBITDA 11.0x 11.6x 15.5x
EV/EBIT 20.6x 17.5x 23.0x
EV/Revenue 5.6x 3.9x 8.1x
EV/FCF -56.2x 232.3x -45.9x
EV/Operating cash flow 15.9x 12.5x 20.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.68 3.85 6.26

Growth

14 metrics
MetricDUKESWTRG
Revenue growth (1Y) 7.2% 9.8% 9.9%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 4.5% 3.4% 3.7%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 12.9% – –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 8.0% – –
Operating income growth (1Y) 8.5% 26.1% -0.6%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 12.2% 11.2% 10.0%
Net income growth (1Y) 7.7% 107.0% -14.1%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 29.1% 6.3% 6.0%
EPS growth (1Y) 8.6% 103.1% -15.1%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 28.1% 3.8% 3.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -3.0% 51.2% 12.2%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 27.6% 28.0% 8.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -1,646% 116.6% 5.4%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 19.6% 29.1% -5.9%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricDUKESWTRG
Gross margin 74.5% – –
EBITDA margin 51.0% 34.1% 52.1%
Operating margin 27.2% 22.5% 35.1%
Pretax margin 18.1% 13.1% 22.7%
Net margin 15.3% 12.5% 21.6%
FCF margin -9.9% 1.7% -17.6%
Operating cash flow margin 35.2% 31.6% 40.0%
Return on equity 9.6% 10.7% 8.0%
Return on assets 2.7% 2.7% 2.8%
Return on invested capital 5.4% 6.2% 5.5%
Return on capital employed 5.1% 5.6% 4.7%
Asset turnover 0.2x 0.2x 0.1x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.2x 2.5x 1.9x
Stock comp / revenue – – 1.0%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricDUKESWTRG
Debt / assets 45.6% 45.8% 42.8%
Debt / equity 1.6x 1.8x 1.2x
Net debt / EBITDA 5.2x 6.2x 6.4x
Debt / FCF -27.4x 125.1x -18.9x
Liabilities / assets 71.5% 74.5% 64.8%
Equity / assets 28.5% 25.5% 35.2%
Interest coverage 2.4x 2.4x 2.6x
Current ratio 0.7x 0.7x 0.8x
Quick ratio 0.3x – 0.5x
Cash ratio 0.1x – 0.0x
Altman Z-score 0.73 0.74 1.01

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricDUKESWTRG
Dividend yield 3.4% 4.6% 3.2%
Net buyback yield – – -1.0%
Shareholder yield 3.4% 4.6% 2.3%
Payout ratio (earnings) 63.7% 63.4% 69.8%
Payout ratio (FCF) -101.3% 470.1% -85.7%
Dividend growth (1Y) 4.1% 8.4% 7.8%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 1.5% 8.3% 8.6%

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusDUKESWTRG
Forward P/E 19.1xFY2026 15.3xFY2026 18.2xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $6.56FY2026 $4.40FY2026 $2.37FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +4.0%FY2026 -7.6%FY2026 +7.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +15.4% +9.3% -5.9%
Revenue, next fiscal year $32.40BFY2026 $13.06BFY2026 $2.42BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +0.5%FY2026 -3.6%FY2026 -1.8%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +4.1% +6.9% +17.2%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersDUKESWTRG
Held by institutions 69.7% 86.3% 78.7%
Institutions holding 2,457 1,110 696
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.5% +3.7% +3.6%
Institutions buying 1,297 617 336
Institutions selling 801 320 232
Buyers to sellers 1.62 1.93 1.45

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

DUKESWTRG
DUK 1.00 0.60 0.58
ES 0.60 1.00 0.41
WTRG 0.58 0.41 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, DUK, ES and WTRG?

Duke Energy (DUK) is the largest by market capitalisation: Duke Energy (DUK) $96.91B, Eversource Energy (ES) $25.40B, Essential Utilities (WTRG) $12.14B.

Which stock is cheaper, DUK, ES and WTRG?

Eversource Energy (ES) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Duke Energy (DUK) 19.1x, Eversource Energy (ES) 14.5x, Essential Utilities (WTRG) 21.9x). On next year's consensus earnings, Eversource Energy (ES) is cheapest (Duke Energy (DUK) 19.1x, Eversource Energy (ES) 15.3x, Essential Utilities (WTRG) 18.2x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Essential Utilities (WTRG) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Duke Energy (DUK) +7.2%, Eversource Energy (ES) +9.8%, Essential Utilities (WTRG) +9.9%.

Which company is more profitable?

Essential Utilities (WTRG) has the highest net margin (Duke Energy (DUK) 15.3%, Eversource Energy (ES) 12.5%, Essential Utilities (WTRG) 21.6%). On return on invested capital, Eversource Energy (ES) leads (Duke Energy (DUK) 5.4%, Eversource Energy (ES) 6.2%, Essential Utilities (WTRG) 5.5%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Essential Utilities (WTRG) returned the most: Duke Energy (DUK) -1.8%, Eversource Energy (ES) -8.7%, Essential Utilities (WTRG) +4.4%. Over five years, Duke Energy (DUK) compounded fastest (Duke Energy (DUK) +3.8%/yr, Eversource Energy (ES) -4.9%/yr, Essential Utilities (WTRG) -1.7%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Eversource Energy (ES) has the highest dividend yield: Duke Energy (DUK) 0.03%, Eversource Energy (ES) 0.04%, Essential Utilities (WTRG) 0.03%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Duke Energy (DUK) has been the steadiest (Duke Energy (DUK) 16.6%, Eversource Energy (ES) 24.8%, Essential Utilities (WTRG) 22.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, DUK, ES and WTRG?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Eversource Energy (ES) leads on 5. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.