Middlesex Water (MSEX) Competitors

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) and Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) are both utilities companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, community ranking, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, media sentiment and risk.

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, AWR or MSEX?

American States Water has higher revenue and earnings than Middlesex Water. American States Water is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Middlesex Water, 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 States Water	$595.46M	4.79	$119.27M	$3.17	24.00
Middlesex Water	$191.88M	5.78	$31.52M	$2.47	25.08

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in AWR or MSEX?

Middlesex Water received 7 more outperform votes than American States Water when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 60.47% of users gave Middlesex Water an outperform vote while only 50.33% of users gave American States Water an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
American States Water	Outperform Votes 227 50.33%	Underperform Votes 224 49.67%
Middlesex Water	Outperform Votes 234 60.47%	Underperform Votes 153 39.53%

Is AWR or MSEX more profitable?

Middlesex Water has a net margin of 22.53% compared to American States Water's net margin of 20.03%. American States Water's return on equity of 13.63% beat Middlesex Water's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
American States Water	20.03%	13.63%	4.89%
Middlesex Water	22.53%	9.58%	3.31%

Do analysts rate AWR or MSEX?

American States Water presently has a consensus price target of $74.00, indicating a potential downside of 2.72%. Middlesex Water has a consensus price target of $58.50, indicating a potential downside of 5.57%. Given American States Water's higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe American States Water is more favorable than Middlesex Water.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
American States Water	2 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.00
Middlesex Water	1 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67

Which has more volatility & risk, AWR or MSEX?

American States Water has a beta of 0.47, meaning that its stock price is 53% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Middlesex Water has a beta of 0.85, meaning that its stock price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media prefer AWR or MSEX?

In the previous week, American States Water and American States Water both had 5 articles in the media. American States Water's average media sentiment score of 1.62 beat Middlesex Water's score of 0.99 indicating that American States Water is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
American States Water	5 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Middlesex Water	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do insiders and institutionals believe in AWR or MSEX?

75.2% of American States Water shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 79.5% of Middlesex Water shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.8% of American States Water shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.9% of Middlesex Water shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Is AWR or MSEX a better dividend stock?

American States Water pays an annual dividend of $1.86 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Middlesex Water pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. American States Water pays out 58.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Middlesex Water pays out 55.1% 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 raised its dividend for 71 consecutive years and Middlesex Water has raised its dividend for 52 consecutive years. American States Water is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Middlesex Water beats American States Water on 12 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.