American Water Works (AWK) Competitors

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

Which has more volatility and risk, AWK or AWR?

American Water Works has a beta of 0.68, indicating that its stock price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, American States Water has a beta of 0.56, indicating that its stock price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in AWK or AWR?

American Water Works received 267 more outperform votes than American States Water when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 63.91% of users gave American Water Works an outperform vote while only 50.33% of users gave American States Water an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
American Water Works	Outperform Votes 494 63.91%	Underperform Votes 279 36.09%
American States Water	Outperform Votes 227 50.33%	Underperform Votes 224 49.67%

Does the media favor AWK or AWR?

In the previous week, American Water Works had 17 more articles in the media than American States Water. MarketBeat recorded 30 mentions for American Water Works and 13 mentions for American States Water. American States Water's average media sentiment score of 1.22 beat American Water Works' score of 0.97 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
American Water Works	18 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
American States Water	6 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in AWK or AWR?

86.6% of American Water Works shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 75.2% of American States Water shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of American Water Works 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 hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Do analysts rate AWK or AWR?

American Water Works currently has a consensus target price of $141.86, indicating a potential downside of 4.38%. American States Water has a consensus target price of $74.00, indicating a potential downside of 7.62%. Given American Water Works' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe American Water Works is more favorable than American States Water.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
American Water Works	2 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
American States Water	2 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.00

Is AWK or AWR a better dividend stock?

American Water Works pays an annual dividend of $3.06 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. American States Water pays an annual dividend of $1.86 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. American Water Works pays out 56.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. American States Water pays out 58.7% 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 raised its dividend for 17 consecutive years and American States Water has raised its dividend for 71 consecutive years. American States Water is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has better valuation & earnings, AWK or AWR?

American Water Works has higher revenue and earnings than American States Water. American States 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	6.18	$1.05B	$5.39	27.52
American States Water	$595.46M	5.18	$119.27M	$3.17	25.27

Is AWK or AWR more profitable?

American Water Works has a net margin of 22.44% compared to American States Water's net margin of 20.03%. American States Water's return on equity of 13.63% beat American Water Works' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
American Water Works	22.44%	10.29%	3.31%
American States Water	20.03%	13.63%	4.89%

Summary

American Water Works beats American States Water on 15 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.