American Water Works (AWK) Competitors

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) and Consolidated Water (NASDAQ:CWCO) are both utilities companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, earnings and profitability.

Do analysts prefer AWK or CWCO?

American Water Works currently has a consensus price target of $143.30, suggesting a potential upside of 2.96%. Consolidated Water has a consensus price target of $40.00, suggesting a potential upside of 20.45%. Given Consolidated Water's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Consolidated Water is more favorable than American Water Works.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
American Water Works	3 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.91
Consolidated Water	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Does the media prefer AWK or CWCO?

In the previous week, American Water Works had 37 more articles in the media than Consolidated Water. MarketBeat recorded 40 mentions for American Water Works and 3 mentions for Consolidated Water. Consolidated Water's average media sentiment score of 1.06 beat American Water Works' score of 1.03 indicating that Consolidated Water is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
American Water Works	23 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	9 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Consolidated Water	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more risk and volatility, AWK or CWCO?

American Water Works has a beta of 0.69, meaning that its share price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Consolidated Water has a beta of 0.58, meaning that its share price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is AWK or CWCO more profitable?

American Water Works has a net margin of 21.91% compared to Consolidated Water's net margin of 12.24%. American Water Works' return on equity of 10.34% beat Consolidated Water's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
American Water Works	21.91%	10.34%	3.29%
Consolidated Water	12.24%	7.77%	6.84%

Is AWK or CWCO a better dividend stock?

American Water Works pays an annual dividend of $3.31 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Consolidated Water pays an annual dividend of $0.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. American Water Works pays out 59.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Consolidated Water pays out 34.6% 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. American Water Works has increased its dividend for 18 consecutive years and Consolidated Water has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years. American Water Works is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has better earnings & valuation, AWK or CWCO?

American Water Works has higher revenue and earnings than Consolidated Water. Consolidated Water is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than American Water Works, 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
American Water Works	$4.68B	5.80	$1.05B	$5.55	25.08
Consolidated Water	$133.97M	3.95	$28.24M	$1.62	20.50

Do institutionals and insiders believe in AWK or CWCO?

86.6% of American Water Works shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 55.2% of Consolidated Water shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.1% of American Water Works shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.3% of Consolidated Water shares are owned by company 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.

Summary

American Water Works beats Consolidated Water on 13 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.