Consolidated Water (CWCO) Competitors

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) and Consolidated Water (NASDAQ:CWCO) are both small-cap utilities companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, institutional ownership, risk, media sentiment, dividends, analyst recommendations, community ranking and profitability.

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, MSEX or CWCO?

Middlesex Water has higher revenue and earnings than Consolidated Water. Consolidated Water is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Middlesex Water, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Middlesex Water	$195.65M	5.31	$31.52M	$2.41	24.07
Consolidated Water	$127.99M	3.31	$29.58M	$1.62	16.45

Which has more risk & volatility, MSEX or CWCO?

Middlesex Water has a beta of 0.88, meaning that its share price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Consolidated Water has a beta of 0.39, meaning that its share price is 61% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts recommend MSEX or CWCO?

Middlesex Water currently has a consensus target price of $61.00, suggesting a potential upside of 5.14%. Given Middlesex Water's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Middlesex Water is more favorable than Consolidated Water.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Middlesex Water	1 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.75
Consolidated Water	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer MSEX or CWCO?

Consolidated Water received 62 more outperform votes than Middlesex Water when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 63.87% of users gave Consolidated Water an outperform vote while only 59.64% of users gave Middlesex Water an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Middlesex Water	Outperform Votes 235 59.64%	Underperform Votes 159 40.36%
Consolidated Water	Outperform Votes 297 63.87%	Underperform Votes 168 36.13%

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in MSEX or CWCO?

79.5% of Middlesex Water shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 55.2% of Consolidated Water shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.3% of Middlesex Water shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 6.3% of Consolidated Water shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the media refer more to MSEX or CWCO?

In the previous week, Consolidated Water had 7 more articles in the media than Middlesex Water. MarketBeat recorded 12 mentions for Consolidated Water and 5 mentions for Middlesex Water. Middlesex Water's average media sentiment score of 1.17 beat Consolidated Water's score of 0.32 indicating that Middlesex Water is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Middlesex Water	4 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Consolidated Water	1 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Is MSEX or CWCO more profitable?

Consolidated Water has a net margin of 23.06% compared to Middlesex Water's net margin of 22.53%. Consolidated Water's return on equity of 12.98% beat Middlesex Water's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Middlesex Water	22.53%	9.58%	3.31%
Consolidated Water	23.06%	12.98%	11.57%

Is MSEX or CWCO a better dividend stock?

Middlesex Water pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Consolidated Water pays an annual dividend of $0.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Middlesex Water pays out 56.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Consolidated Water pays out 27.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Middlesex Water has increased its dividend for 52 consecutive years and Consolidated Water has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Middlesex Water is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Middlesex Water beats Consolidated Water on 14 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.