AWR vs. CWT, SJW, MSEX, WTRG, MYRG, PAM, AVA, MGEE, CPK, and PRMW
Should you be buying American States Water stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of American States Water include California Water Service Group (CWT), SJW Group (SJW), Middlesex Water (MSEX), Essential Utilities (WTRG), MYR Group (MYRG), Pampa Energía (PAM), Avista (AVA), MGE Energy (MGEE), Chesapeake Utilities (CPK), and Primo Water (PRMW). These companies are all part of the "utilities" sector.
American States Water (NYSE:AWR) and California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) are both mid-cap utilities companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, media sentiment, profitability, risk, earnings and community ranking.
American States Water has a beta of 0.43, meaning that its stock price is 57% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, California Water Service Group has a beta of 0.49, meaning that its stock price is 51% less volatile than the S&P 500.
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 company insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of California Water Service Group shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
In the previous week, California Water Service Group had 23 more articles in the media than American States Water. MarketBeat recorded 28 mentions for California Water Service Group and 5 mentions for American States Water. California Water Service Group's average media sentiment score of 0.67 beat American States Water's score of 0.09 indicating that California Water Service Group is being referred to more favorably in the news media.
American States Water currently has a consensus price target of $77.00, indicating a potential upside of 10.14%. California Water Service Group has a consensus price target of $54.25, indicating a potential upside of 13.19%. Given California Water Service Group's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe California Water Service Group is more favorable than American States Water.
American States Water has a net margin of 20.97% compared to California Water Service Group's net margin of 15.42%. American States Water's return on equity of 13.54% beat California Water Service Group's return on equity.
American States Water pays an annual dividend of $1.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. California Water Service Group pays an annual dividend of $1.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. American States Water pays out 51.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. California Water Service Group pays out 44.8% 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 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.
California Water Service Group received 50 more outperform votes than American States Water when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 53.79% of users gave California Water Service Group an outperform vote while only 51.95% of users gave American States Water an outperform vote.
Summary
California Water Service Group beats American States Water on 12 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.
Get American States Water News Delivered to You Automatically
Sign up to receive the latest news and ratings for AWR and its competitors with MarketBeat's FREE daily newsletter.
This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding AWR and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period.
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.
American States Water Competitors List
Related Companies and Tools
