American Water Works (AWK) Competitors

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) and California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) are both utilities companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, media sentiment, profitability, institutional ownership, community ranking, valuation and earnings.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor AWK or CWT?

American Water Works received 214 more outperform votes than California Water Service Group when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 64.78% of users gave American Water Works an outperform vote while only 53.79% of users gave California Water Service Group an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
American Water Works	Outperform Votes 491 64.78%	Underperform Votes 267 35.22%
California Water Service Group	Outperform Votes 277 53.79%	Underperform Votes 238 46.21%

Which has more risk and volatility, AWK or CWT?

American Water Works has a beta of 0.62, meaning that its stock price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, California Water Service Group has a beta of 0.47, meaning that its stock price is 53% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media refer more to AWK or CWT?

In the previous week, American Water Works had 10 more articles in the media than California Water Service Group. MarketBeat recorded 14 mentions for American Water Works and 4 mentions for California Water Service Group. American Water Works' average media sentiment score of 0.83 beat California Water Service Group's score of 0.41 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	9 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
California Water Service Group	0 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Do analysts recommend AWK or CWT?

American Water Works presently has a consensus target price of $141.33, indicating a potential upside of 8.08%. California Water Service Group has a consensus target price of $54.25, indicating a potential upside of 8.74%. Given California Water Service Group's higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe California Water Service Group is more favorable than American Water Works.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
American Water Works	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
California Water Service Group	1 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.25

Is AWK or CWT a better dividend stock?

American Water Works pays an annual dividend of $3.06 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. California Water Service Group pays an annual dividend of $1.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. American Water Works pays out 62.1% 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.

Is AWK or CWT more profitable?

American Water Works has a net margin of 22.27% compared to California Water Service Group's net margin of 15.42%. California Water Service Group's return on equity of 10.09% beat American Water Works' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
American Water Works	22.27%	9.74%	3.18%
California Water Service Group	15.42%	10.09%	3.31%

Do institutionals and insiders believe in AWK or CWT?

86.6% of American Water Works shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 82.8% of California Water Service Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.1% of American Water Works shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% of California Water Service Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, AWK or CWT?

American Water Works has higher revenue and earnings than California Water Service Group. California Water Service Group 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	6.02	$944M	$4.93	26.53
California Water Service Group	$794.63M	3.63	$51.91M	$2.50	19.96

Summary

American Water Works beats California Water Service Group on 14 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.