H2O America (HTO) Competitors

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) and H2O America (NASDAQ:HTO) are both utilities companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, dividends, media sentiment, risk, valuation, institutional ownership and analyst recommendations.

Which has more volatility and risk, AWR or HTO?

American States Water has a beta of 0.64, meaning that its stock price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, H2O America has a beta of 0.53, meaning that its stock price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500.

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

75.2% of American States Water shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 84.3% of H2O America shares are held by institutional investors. 0.8% of American States Water shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of H2O America shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Is AWR or HTO a better dividend stock?

American States Water pays an annual dividend of $2.02 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. H2O America pays an annual dividend of $1.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. American States Water pays out 61.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. H2O America pays out 55.1% 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 H2O America has increased its dividend for 57 consecutive years. H2O America is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do analysts recommend AWR or HTO?

American States Water currently has a consensus price target of $77.50, suggesting a potential upside of 4.08%. H2O America has a consensus price target of $56.50, suggesting a potential upside of 16.04%. Given H2O America's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe H2O America is more favorable than American States Water.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
American States Water	1 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.67
H2O America	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33

Does the media prefer AWR or HTO?

In the previous week, H2O America had 1 more articles in the media than American States Water. MarketBeat recorded 4 mentions for H2O America and 3 mentions for American States Water. H2O America's average media sentiment score of 0.62 beat American States Water's score of 0.39 indicating that H2O America is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
American States Water	0 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
H2O America	0 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has higher earnings and valuation, AWR or HTO?

American States Water has higher earnings, but lower revenue than H2O America. H2O America 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
American States Water	$595.46M	4.82	$119.27M	$3.27	22.77
H2O America	$748.44M	2.30	$93.97M	$3.05	15.96

Is AWR or HTO more profitable?

American States Water has a net margin of 20.26% compared to H2O America's net margin of 13.03%. American States Water's return on equity of 13.14% beat H2O America's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
American States Water	20.26%	13.14%	4.86%
H2O America	13.03%	7.67%	2.27%

Summary

American States Water beats H2O America on 10 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.