Aqua America (WTR) Competitors

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

Does the media favor AWK or WTR?

In the previous week, American Water Works had 11 more articles in the media than Aqua America. MarketBeat recorded 12 mentions for American Water Works and 1 mentions for Aqua America. Aqua America's average media sentiment score of 0.82 beat American Water Works' score of 0.00 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)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Aqua America	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

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

86.6% of American Water Works shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 66.5% of Aqua America shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of American Water Works shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Aqua America shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Is AWK or WTR more profitable?

American Water Works has a net margin of 22.27% compared to American Water Works' net margin of 18.02%. Aqua America's return on equity of 9.74% 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%
Aqua America	18.02%	8.81%	3.16%

Which has more risk and volatility, AWK or WTR?

American Water Works has a beta of 0.62, meaning that its stock price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Aqua America has a beta of 0.32, meaning that its stock price is 68% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts rate AWK or WTR?

American Water Works currently has a consensus target price of $141.33, suggesting a potential upside of 8.08%. Given Aqua America's higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe American Water Works is more favorable than Aqua America.

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
Aqua America	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	N/A

Is AWK or WTR a better dividend stock?

American Water Works pays an annual dividend of $3.06 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Aqua America pays an annual dividend of $0.94 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. American Water Works pays out 62.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Aqua America pays out 66.7% 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 17 consecutive years.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in AWK or WTR?

American Water Works received 131 more outperform votes than Aqua America when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 65.81% of users gave Aqua America an outperform vote while only 64.78% of users gave American Water Works an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
American Water Works	Outperform Votes 491 64.78%	Underperform Votes 267 35.22%
Aqua America	Outperform Votes 360 65.81%	Underperform Votes 187 34.19%

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, AWK or WTR?

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
American Water Works	$4.23B	6.02	$944M	$4.93	26.53
Aqua America	$838.09M	9.72	$191.99M	$1.41	26.76

Summary

American Water Works beats Aqua America on 15 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.