H2O America (HTO) Competitors

H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) and American States Water (NYSE:AWR) are both utilities companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their media sentiment, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, valuation, institutional ownership and earnings.

Do analysts prefer HTO or AWR?

H2O America presently has a consensus target price of $57.50, suggesting a potential upside of 14.56%. American States Water has a consensus target price of $77.50, suggesting a potential upside of 1.73%. Given H2O America's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe H2O America is more favorable than American States Water.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
H2O America	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
American States Water	1 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.50

Do insiders & institutionals believe in HTO or AWR?

84.3% of H2O America shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 75.2% of American States Water shares are held by institutional investors. 0.4% of H2O America shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of American States Water shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Which has more risk and volatility, HTO or AWR?

H2O America has a beta of 0.53, indicating that its share price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, American States Water has a beta of 0.61, indicating that its share price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, HTO or AWR?

American States Water has lower revenue, but higher earnings than H2O America. H2O America is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than American States 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
H2O America	$748.44M	2.29	$93.97M	$2.98	16.84
American States Water	$595.46M	4.93	$119.27M	$3.25	23.44

Is HTO or AWR more profitable?

American States Water has a net margin of 20.22% compared to H2O America's net margin of 12.89%. American States Water's return on equity of 13.45% beat H2O America's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
H2O America	12.89%	7.58%	2.22%
American States Water	20.22%	13.45%	4.92%

Is HTO or AWR a better dividend stock?

H2O America pays an annual dividend of $1.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. American States Water pays an annual dividend of $1.86 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. H2O America pays out 56.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. American States Water pays out 57.2% 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. H2O America has increased its dividend for 57 consecutive years and American States Water has increased its dividend for 71 consecutive years. H2O America is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Does the media favor HTO or AWR?

In the previous week, American States Water had 2 more articles in the media than H2O America. MarketBeat recorded 6 mentions for American States Water and 4 mentions for H2O America. American States Water's average media sentiment score of 0.99 beat H2O America's score of 0.31 indicating that American States Water is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
H2O America	1 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
American States Water	5 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

American States Water beats H2O America on 12 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.