American Water Works (AWK) Competitors

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

Is CWT or AWK more profitable?

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

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

Does the MarketBeat Community favor CWT or AWK?

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

Does the media refer more to CWT or AWK?

In the previous week, American Water Works had 11 more articles in the media than California Water Service Group. MarketBeat recorded 16 mentions for American Water Works and 5 mentions for California Water Service Group. California Water Service Group's average media sentiment score of 0.78 beat American Water Works' score of 0.50 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
California Water Service Group	0 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
American Water Works	8 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

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

82.8% of California Water Service Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.6% of American Water Works shares are held by institutional investors. 0.7% of California Water Service Group 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, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Is CWT or AWK a better dividend stock?

California Water Service Group pays an annual dividend of $1.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. American Water Works pays an annual dividend of $3.06 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 Water Works pays out 62.1% 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. California Water Service Group has increased its dividend for 58 consecutive years and American Water Works has increased its dividend for 17 consecutive years.

Which has better valuation and earnings, CWT or AWK?

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
California Water Service Group	$794.63M	3.61	$51.91M	$2.50	19.86
American Water Works	$4.23B	5.95	$944M	$4.93	26.23

Do analysts recommend CWT or AWK?

California Water Service Group presently has a consensus target price of $54.25, indicating a potential upside of 8.70%. American Water Works has a consensus target price of $141.33, indicating a potential upside of 8.91%. Given California Water Service Group's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe American Water Works is more favorable than California Water Service Group.

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

Which has more risk & volatility, CWT or AWK?

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

Summary

American Water Works beats California Water Service Group on 15 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.