Essential Utilities WTRG has been gaining from steady capital investment, strategic acquisitions, customer additions, debt management and organic growth. It is expected to be a consistent performer in its industry over the long run.Essential Utilities— which currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold)—delivered an average four-quarter earnings surprise of 1.45%. Its long-term (three to five years) earnings growth is currently pegged at 6.22%. Moreover, its current dividend yield of 2.2% is better than its industry average of 1.5%.TailwindsMassive infrastructural investments are required to upgrade and maintain water utilities as old and soiled water pipelines are quickly nearing their effective service lives. Essential Utilities has plans to make necessary investments to strengthen its natural gas infrastructure. The company plans to invest $3 billion through 2023 to fortify operations and efficiently serve the expanding customer base.Essential Utilities completed the acquisition of Common Water on Aug 2, 2021, and Bourbonnais, which added 980 and 6,450 customers, respectively. It expects the water and wastewater customer base to increase 2-3% year over year in 2021 through acquisitions along with organic means. Gas customer volumes are expected to remain stable in 2021.Efficient debt management by WTRG has resulted in a decrease in the weighted average cost of fixed-rate long-term debt. Rating agencies have provided strong credit ratings to the company. Total debt to capital was 52.7% in thethird quarter of 2021, down 210 basis points from 54.8% at the end of the fourth quarter of 2020. Its times interest earned ratio at the third-quarterend was 3.0, improving sequentially from the 2020-end level of 2.4. This indicates that it has enough liquidity to meet debt obligations without any difficulty and its stable times interest earned ratio is reassuring for investors.HeadwindsDespite implementing the best safety measures, water utilities always run the risk of contamination of water supplied to customers. Even the implementation of strict regulations by federal and state environmental laws can significantly increase the operating costs for the company.Weather also has a direct impact on water and gas consumption and the fluctuation of weather will adversely impact demand and lower revenues.Price PerformanceIn the past six months, shares of Essential Utilities have rallied 4.2%, outperforming the industry’s 0.7% growth.Image Source: Zacks Investment ResearchZacks Rank and Key PicksSome better-ranked stocks from the same sector are American States Water AWR, Atmos Energy ATO and IDACORP Inc.IDA, each carrying a Zacks Rank of 2 (Buy).The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2022 earnings per share of American States Water, Atmos Energy and IDACORP has moved up 2.71%, 0.34% and 1.01%, respectively, in the past 60 days.American States Water, Atmos Energy and IDACORP delivered an average earnings surprise of 5.02%, 6.46%, and 5.18%, respectively, in the last four quarters.You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Just Released: Zacks Top 10 Stocks for 2022 In addition to the investment ideas discussed above, would you like to know about our 10 top picks for the entirety of 2022? From inception in 2012 through 2021, the Zacks Top 10 Stocks portfolios gained an impressive +1,001.2% versus the S&P 500’s +348.7%. Now our Director of Research has combed through 4,000 companies covered by the Zacks Rank and has handpicked the best 10 tickers to buy and hold. Don’t miss your chance to get in…because the sooner you do, the more upside you stand to grab.See Stocks Now >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report IDACORP, Inc. (IDA): Free Stock Analysis Report Atmos Energy Corporation (ATO): Free Stock Analysis Report American States Water Company (AWR): Free Stock Analysis Report Essential Utilities Inc. (WTRG): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research