Aqua America (WTR) Competitors

Aqua America (NYSE:WTR) and American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) are both utilities companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their media sentiment, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings and dividends.

Is WTR or AWK more profitable?

American Water Works has a net margin of 21.91% compared to Aqua America's net margin of 18.02%. American Water Works' return on equity of 10.34% beat Aqua America's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Aqua America	18.02%	8.81%	3.16%
American Water Works	21.91%	10.34%	3.29%

Which has more volatility & risk, WTR or AWK?

Aqua America has a beta of 0.32, indicating that its stock price is 68% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, American Water Works has a beta of 0.69, indicating that its stock price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of WTR or AWK?

66.5% of Aqua America shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.6% of American Water Works shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of Aqua America shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of American Water Works shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is WTR or AWK a better dividend stock?

Aqua America pays an annual dividend of $0.94 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. American Water Works pays an annual dividend of $3.31 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Aqua America pays out 66.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. American Water Works pays out 59.6% 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 Water Works has increased its dividend for 18 consecutive years.

Does the media prefer WTR or AWK?

In the previous week, American Water Works had 46 more articles in the media than Aqua America. MarketBeat recorded 46 mentions for American Water Works and 0 mentions for Aqua America. American Water Works' average media sentiment score of 1.03 beat Aqua America's score of 0.00 indicating that American Water Works is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Aqua America	Neutral
American Water Works	Positive

Do analysts prefer WTR or AWK?

American Water Works has a consensus price target of $143.30, suggesting a potential upside of 4.31%. Given American Water Works' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe American Water Works is more favorable than Aqua America.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Aqua America	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00
American Water Works	3 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.91

Which has higher earnings and valuation, WTR or AWK?

American Water Works has higher revenue and earnings than Aqua America. American Water Works is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Aqua America, 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
Aqua America	$838.09M	9.73	$191.99M	$1.41	26.81
American Water Works	$4.94B	5.42	$1.05B	$5.55	24.75

Summary

American Water Works beats Aqua America on 15 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.