American States Water (AWR) Competitors

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

Does the media refer more to CWCO or AWR?

In the previous week, Consolidated Water had 11 more articles in the media than American States Water. MarketBeat recorded 19 mentions for Consolidated Water and 8 mentions for American States Water. American States Water's average media sentiment score of 0.73 beat Consolidated Water's score of 0.73 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
Consolidated Water	5 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	8 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
American States Water	6 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts rate CWCO or AWR?

Consolidated Water currently has a consensus price target of $40.00, suggesting a potential upside of 22.21%. American States Water has a consensus price target of $77.50, suggesting a potential upside of 2.78%. Given Consolidated Water's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Consolidated Water is more favorable than American States Water.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Consolidated Water	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
American States Water	1 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.50

Is CWCO or AWR a better dividend stock?

Consolidated Water pays an annual dividend of $0.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. American States Water pays an annual dividend of $2.01 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Consolidated Water pays out 34.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. American States Water pays out 61.5% 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. Consolidated Water has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years and American States Water has increased 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 preferable earnings and valuation, CWCO or AWR?

American States Water has higher revenue and earnings than Consolidated Water. Consolidated Water 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
Consolidated Water	$133.97M	3.89	$28.24M	$1.62	20.20
American States Water	$615.96M	4.71	$119.27M	$3.27	23.06

Is CWCO or AWR more profitable?

American States Water has a net margin of 20.26% compared to Consolidated Water's net margin of 12.24%. American States Water's return on equity of 13.14% beat Consolidated Water's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Consolidated Water	12.24%	7.77%	6.84%
American States Water	20.26%	13.14%	4.86%

Which has more risk & volatility, CWCO or AWR?

Consolidated Water has a beta of 0.53, meaning that its share price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, American States Water has a beta of 0.62, meaning that its share price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of CWCO or AWR?

55.2% of Consolidated Water shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 75.2% of American States Water shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.3% of Consolidated Water shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of American States Water shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

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