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Reasons to Add Global Water Resources (GWRS) to Your Portfolio

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Global Water Resources Inc.’s (GWRS - Free Report) investments in infrastructure, expansion of operations through an inorganic route, rising earnings estimates and an increase in water connections are expected to drive its performance in the long run.

Let’s focus on the factors that make this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock a strong investment pick at the moment.

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 (Strong Buy) Rank stocks here.

Growth Projection & Surprise History

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Global Water Resources’ 2022 earnings has moved up 5% in the past 60 days to 21 cents per share. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for GWRS’ 2023 earnings has moved up 9.1% in the past 60 days to 24 cents per share.

Global Water Resources delivered an average earnings surprise of 180% in the last four quarters.

Long-term EPS Growth and Dividend Yield

Global Water Resources’ long-term (three- to five-year) earnings growth is projected to be 15%.

The current dividend yield of GWRS is 2.24%, better than the Zacks S&P 500 Composite’s average yield of 1.68%.

Expanding Operation

Global Water Resources is making significant progress in expanding through organic means, acquisitions, utility rate increases and spreading operations in new service areas. The improving economic conditions in Arizona also created fresh demand.

The company expanded its operation in the booming Arizona market by acquiring 11 utilities since 2017. The acquisition contributes more than $3.3 million to annual revenues. The company is in talks with several other utilities and the state having more than 300 water utilities. There is ample opportunity for expansion.

Return on Equity

Return on Equity (ROE) indicates how efficiently a company is utilizing shareholders’ funds in the business to generate returns. At present, Global Water Resources’ ROE is 14.95%, higher than the industry average of 10.62%. This indicates that the company is utilizing the funds more effectively than its industry peers.

Investments

Global Water Resources’ capital investment in existing utilities focused on increasing revenues, reducing expenses and building a rate base to provide safe, reliable service. The company continues to make capital investments with the addition of service areas and the upgrade of old acquired assets.

Price Performance

In the past three months, Global Water Resources’ stock has gained 14.2% compared with the industry’s 11.3% rise.

Other Stocks to Consider

Some other top-ranked stocks from the same sector are ALLETE (ALE - Free Report) , MDU Resources Group (MDU - Free Report) and Atmos Energy (ATO - Free Report) , each carrying a Zacks Rank #2.

The long-term earnings growth of ALLETE, MDU Resources and Atmos Energy is projected at 9.3%, 5.7% and 7.5%, respectively.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2022 earnings for ALLETE and MDU Resources has moved up 0.3% and 0.6%, respectively, in the past 60 days. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Atmos Energy’s fiscal 2023 earnings has moved up 0.4% in the past 60 days.

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