CWT vs. AWR, SJW, MSEX, WTRG, MYRG, AVA, MGEE, PAM, CPK, and PRMW
Should you be buying California Water Service Group stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of California Water Service Group include American States Water (AWR), SJW Group (SJW), Middlesex Water (MSEX), Essential Utilities (WTRG), MYR Group (MYRG), Avista (AVA), MGE Energy (MGEE), Pampa Energía (PAM), Chesapeake Utilities (CPK), and Primo Water (PRMW). These companies are all part of the "utilities" sector.
California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) and American States Water (NYSE:AWR) are both mid-cap utilities companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, dividends, community ranking, earnings, risk, media sentiment, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.
82.8% of California Water Service Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 75.2% of American States Water shares are held by institutional investors. 0.9% of California Water Service Group shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of American States Water shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
American States Water has lower revenue, but higher earnings 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.
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 media.
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 an annual dividend of $1.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. California Water Service Group pays out 44.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. American States Water pays out 51.0% 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 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.
California Water Service Group has a beta of 0.49, indicating that its share price is 51% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, American States Water has a beta of 0.43, indicating that its share price is 57% less volatile than the S&P 500.
California Water Service Group presently has a consensus target price of $54.25, indicating a potential upside of 13.19%. American States Water has a consensus target price of $77.00, indicating a potential upside of 10.14%. Given California Water Service Group's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities 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.
Summary
California Water Service Group beats American States Water on 12 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.
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This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding CWT 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.
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