CWT vs. AWR, SJW, MSEX, YORW, CWCO, ARTNA, CDZI, AWK, WTRG, and GWRS
Should you be buying California Water Service Group stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of California Water Service Group include American States Water (AWR), SJW Group (SJW), Middlesex Water (MSEX), York Water (YORW), Consolidated Water (CWCO), Artesian Resources (ARTNA), Cadiz (CDZI), American Water Works (AWK), Essential Utilities (WTRG), and Global Water Resources (GWRS). These companies are all part of the "water supply" industry.
California Water Service Group vs.
American States Water (NYSE:AWR) and California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) are both mid-cap utilities companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their media sentiment, profitability, valuation, risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, community ranking, dividends and institutional ownership.
75.2% of American States Water shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 82.8% of California Water Service Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.8% of American States Water shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of California Water Service Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
California Water Service Group received 56 more outperform votes than American States Water when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 53.20% of users gave California Water Service Group an outperform vote while only 50.22% of users gave American States Water an outperform vote.
American States Water presently has a consensus target price of $77.50, indicating a potential downside of 1.44%. California Water Service Group has a consensus target price of $58.00, indicating a potential upside of 23.12%. Given California Water Service Group's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe California Water Service Group is more favorable than American States Water.
In the previous week, American States Water had 1 more articles in the media than California Water Service Group. MarketBeat recorded 9 mentions for American States Water and 8 mentions for California Water Service Group. American States Water's average media sentiment score of 1.48 beat California Water Service Group's score of 0.89 indicating that American States Water is being referred to more favorably in the media.
American States Water has a beta of 0.62, indicating that its share price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, California Water Service Group has a beta of 0.66, indicating that its share price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500.
American States Water pays an annual dividend of $1.86 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. California Water Service Group pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. American States Water pays out 57.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. California Water Service Group pays out 52.6% 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 increased its dividend for 71 consecutive years and California Water Service Group has increased its dividend for 59 consecutive years. California Water Service Group is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.
American States Water has a net margin of 20.03% compared to California Water Service Group's net margin of 19.56%. American States Water's return on equity of 13.63% beat California Water Service Group's return on equity.
American States Water has higher earnings, but lower revenue than California Water Service Group. California Water Service Group 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.
Summary
American States Water and California Water Service Group tied by winning 11 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.
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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:CWT) was last updated on 6/11/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff