American Water Works (AWK) Competitors

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

Is CWCO or AWK a better dividend stock?

Consolidated Water pays an annual dividend of $0.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. American Water Works pays an annual dividend of $3.31 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Consolidated Water pays out 34.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. American Water Works pays out 60.3% 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. Consolidated Water has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years and American Water Works has increased its dividend for 18 consecutive years. American Water Works is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in CWCO or AWK?

55.2% of Consolidated Water shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.6% of American Water Works shares are held by institutional investors. 6.3% of Consolidated Water shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of American Water Works shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Do analysts prefer CWCO or AWK?

American Water Works has a consensus target price of $143.22, indicating a potential upside of 2.37%. Given American Water Works' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe American Water Works is more favorable than Consolidated Water.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Consolidated Water	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00
American Water Works	3 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.80

Does the media favor CWCO or AWK?

In the previous week, American Water Works had 20 more articles in the media than Consolidated Water. MarketBeat recorded 22 mentions for American Water Works and 2 mentions for Consolidated Water. American Water Works' average media sentiment score of 1.07 beat Consolidated Water's score of 0.99 indicating that American Water Works is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Consolidated Water	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
American Water Works	14 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	8 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is CWCO or AWK more profitable?

American Water Works has a net margin of 22.24% compared to Consolidated Water's net margin of 20.75%. American Water Works' return on equity of 10.35% beat Consolidated Water's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Consolidated Water	20.75%	7.43%	6.61%
American Water Works	22.24%	10.35%	3.32%

Which has higher valuation & earnings, CWCO or AWK?

American Water Works has higher revenue and earnings than Consolidated Water. Consolidated Water 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
Consolidated Water	$133.97M	3.71	$28.24M	$1.62	19.29
American Water Works	$4.68B	5.82	$1.05B	$5.49	25.48

Which has more risk & volatility, CWCO or AWK?

Consolidated Water has a beta of 0.47, indicating that its share price is 53% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, American Water Works has a beta of 0.69, indicating that its share price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

American Water Works beats Consolidated Water on 16 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.