AWR vs. CWCO, GWRS, MSEX, YORW, AWK, CMS, CWT, WTRG, HTO, and CDZI
Should you be buying American States Water stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of American States Water include Consolidated Water (CWCO), Global Water Resources (GWRS), Middlesex Water (MSEX), York Water (YORW), American Water Works (AWK), CMS Energy (CMS), California Water Service Group (CWT), Essential Utilities (WTRG), H2O America (HTO), and Cadiz (CDZI).
American States Water vs. Its Competitors
American States Water (NYSE:AWR) and Consolidated Water (NASDAQ:CWCO) are both utilities companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, media sentiment, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation and institutional ownership.
75.2% of American States Water shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 55.2% of Consolidated Water shares are held by institutional investors. 0.8% of American States Water shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 6.3% of Consolidated Water shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
In the previous week, Consolidated Water had 4 more articles in the media than American States Water. MarketBeat recorded 6 mentions for Consolidated Water and 2 mentions for American States Water. Consolidated Water's average media sentiment score of 0.85 beat American States Water's score of 0.34 indicating that Consolidated Water is being referred to more favorably in the news media.
American States Water has a beta of 0.64, meaning that its stock price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Consolidated Water has a beta of 0.53, meaning that its stock price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500.
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.
American States Water currently has a consensus target price of $77.50, suggesting a potential upside of 2.80%. Consolidated Water has a consensus target price of $40.00, suggesting a potential upside of 10.07%. Given Consolidated Water's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Consolidated Water is more favorable than American States Water.
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.
American States Water pays an annual dividend of $2.02 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Consolidated Water pays an annual dividend of $0.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. American States Water pays out 61.8% 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 States Water has raised its dividend for 71 consecutive years and Consolidated Water has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years. American States Water is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.
Summary
American States Water beats Consolidated Water on 11 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.
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New MarketBeat Followers Over Time
This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding AWR and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period.
Skip ChartMedia Sentiment Over Time
This chart shows the average media sentiment of NYSE and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.
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This page (NYSE:AWR) was last updated on 10/16/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff