American Water Works (AWK) Competitors

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) and Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP (NYSE:SBS) are both large-cap utilities companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their community ranking, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, earnings, profitability, media sentiment, institutional ownership and dividends.

Does the media refer more to AWK or SBS?

In the previous week, American Water Works had 12 more articles in the media than Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP. MarketBeat recorded 17 mentions for American Water Works and 5 mentions for Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP. American Water Works' average media sentiment score of 0.94 beat Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP's score of 0.54 indicating that American Water Works is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
American Water Works	8 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP	1 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has stronger earnings and valuation, AWK or SBS?

American Water Works has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP. Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than American Water Works, 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 Water Works	$4.23B	5.56	$944M	$4.89	24.70
Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP	$23.77B	0.46	$604.59M	$0.86	18.60

Is AWK or SBS a better dividend stock?

American Water Works pays an annual dividend of $2.83 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP pays an annual dividend of $0.45 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. American Water Works pays out 57.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP pays out 52.3% 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. Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Which has more volatility and risk, AWK or SBS?

American Water Works has a beta of 0.63, indicating that its share price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP has a beta of 1.23, indicating that its share price is 23% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of AWK or SBS?

86.6% of American Water Works shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 10.6% of Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of American Water Works shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor AWK or SBS?

American Water Works received 268 more outperform votes than Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 64.86% of users gave American Water Works an outperform vote while only 58.38% of users gave Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
American Water Works	Outperform Votes 491 64.86%	Underperform Votes 266 35.14%
Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP	Outperform Votes 223 58.38%	Underperform Votes 159 41.62%

Is AWK or SBS more profitable?

American Water Works has a net margin of 22.30% compared to Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP's net margin of 12.31%. Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP's return on equity of 10.45% beat American Water Works' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
American Water Works	22.30%	9.70%	3.20%
Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP	12.31%	10.45%	5.16%

Do analysts rate AWK or SBS?

American Water Works currently has a consensus price target of $141.80, suggesting a potential upside of 17.40%. Given American Water Works' higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe American Water Works is more favorable than Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
American Water Works	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67
Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	N/A

Summary

American Water Works beats Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP on 12 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.