Consolidated Water (CWCO) Competitors

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

Do analysts recommend CWCO or MSEX?

Middlesex Water has a consensus price target of $58.50, indicating a potential downside of 6.82%. Given Middlesex Water's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Middlesex Water is more favorable than Consolidated Water.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Consolidated Water	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00
Middlesex Water	1 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, CWCO or MSEX?

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
Consolidated Water	$133.97M	2.77	$29.58M	$1.62	14.38
Middlesex Water	$191.88M	5.85	$31.52M	$2.47	25.42

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer CWCO or MSEX?

Consolidated Water received 63 more outperform votes than Middlesex Water when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 63.87% of users gave Consolidated Water an outperform vote while only 59.85% of users gave Middlesex Water an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Consolidated Water	Outperform Votes 297 63.87%	Underperform Votes 168 36.13%
Middlesex Water	Outperform Votes 234 59.85%	Underperform Votes 157 40.15%

Does the media favor CWCO or MSEX?

In the previous week, Consolidated Water had 1 more articles in the media than Middlesex Water. MarketBeat recorded 12 mentions for Consolidated Water and 11 mentions for Middlesex Water. Middlesex Water's average media sentiment score of 1.04 beat Consolidated Water's score of 0.99 indicating that Middlesex Water is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Consolidated Water	8 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Middlesex Water	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do institutionals and insiders believe in CWCO or MSEX?

55.2% of Consolidated Water shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 79.5% of Middlesex Water shares are held by institutional investors. 5.9% of Consolidated Water shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.9% of Middlesex Water shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Is CWCO or MSEX a better dividend stock?

Consolidated Water pays an annual dividend of $0.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. Middlesex Water pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Consolidated Water pays out 27.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Middlesex Water pays out 55.1% 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 raised its dividend for 52 consecutive years. Middlesex Water is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Is CWCO or MSEX 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
Consolidated Water	23.06%	12.98%	11.57%
Middlesex Water	22.53%	9.58%	3.31%

Which has more risk and volatility, CWCO or MSEX?

Consolidated Water has a beta of 0.27, indicating that its stock price is 73% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Middlesex Water has a beta of 0.8, indicating that its stock price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

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