California Water Service Group (CWT) Competitors

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

Which has more volatility and risk, CWT or CWCO?

California Water Service Group has a beta of 0.66, suggesting that its share price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Consolidated Water has a beta of 0.53, suggesting that its share price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do institutionals & insiders believe in CWT or CWCO?

82.8% of California Water Service Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 55.2% of Consolidated Water shares are held by institutional investors. 0.8% of California Water Service Group shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 6.3% of Consolidated Water shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, CWT or CWCO?

California Water Service Group has higher revenue and earnings than Consolidated Water. Consolidated Water is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than California Water Service Group, 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
California Water Service Group	$1.04B	2.69	$190.81M	$2.29	20.45
Consolidated Water	$133.97M	3.93	$28.24M	$1.62	20.42

Do analysts recommend CWT or CWCO?

California Water Service Group currently has a consensus price target of $56.00, indicating a potential upside of 19.56%. Consolidated Water has a consensus price target of $40.00, indicating a potential upside of 20.92%. Given Consolidated Water's higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Consolidated Water is more favorable than California Water Service Group.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
California Water Service Group	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.33
Consolidated Water	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Does the media favor CWT or CWCO?

In the previous week, Consolidated Water had 15 more articles in the media than California Water Service Group. MarketBeat recorded 17 mentions for Consolidated Water and 2 mentions for California Water Service Group. California Water Service Group's average media sentiment score of 1.66 beat Consolidated Water's score of 0.66 indicating that California Water Service Group is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
California Water Service Group	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Consolidated Water	4 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	8 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is CWT or CWCO more profitable?

California Water Service Group has a net margin of 13.71% compared to Consolidated Water's net margin of 12.24%. California Water Service Group's return on equity of 8.28% beat Consolidated Water's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
California Water Service Group	13.71%	8.28%	2.61%
Consolidated Water	12.24%	7.77%	6.84%

Is CWT or CWCO a better dividend stock?

California Water Service Group pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. Consolidated Water pays an annual dividend of $0.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. California Water Service Group pays out 52.4% 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. California Water Service Group has raised its dividend for 59 consecutive years and Consolidated Water has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years. California Water Service Group is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

California Water Service Group beats Consolidated Water on 14 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.