CWT vs. AWR, SJW, MSEX, SBS, WTRG, AVA, MGEE, NWE, PNM, and PAM
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), Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP (SBS), Essential Utilities (WTRG), Avista (AVA), MGE Energy (MGEE), NorthWestern Energy Group (NWE), PNM Resources (PNM), and Pampa Energía (PAM). 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 better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, media sentiment, dividends, earnings, risk and community ranking.
California Water Service Group currently has a consensus price target of $54.25, indicating a potential upside of 12.46%. American States Water has a consensus price target of $80.00, indicating a potential upside of 12.66%. Given American States Water's higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe American States Water is more favorable than California Water Service Group.
California Water Service Group has a beta of 0.47, meaning that its stock price is 53% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, American States Water has a beta of 0.43, meaning that its stock price is 57% less volatile than the S&P 500.
82.8% of California Water Service Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 75.2% of American States Water shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.7% of California Water Service Group shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of American States Water shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
American States Water has a net margin of 19.95% compared to California Water Service Group's net margin of 15.42%. American States Water's return on equity of 13.65% beat California Water Service Group's return on equity.
In the previous week, American States Water had 2 more articles in the media than California Water Service Group. MarketBeat recorded 10 mentions for American States Water and 8 mentions for California Water Service Group. American States Water's average media sentiment score of 0.95 beat California Water Service Group's score of 0.53 indicating that American States Water is being referred to more favorably in the news media.
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.
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 2.4%. California Water Service Group pays out 44.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. American States Water pays out 56.2% 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 51.83% of users gave American States Water an outperform vote.
Summary
American States Water beats California Water Service Group 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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