American States Water (AWR) Competitors

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

Which has more risk & volatility, AWR or CWT?

American States Water has a beta of 0.51, meaning that its stock price is 49% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, California Water Service Group has a beta of 0.5, meaning that its stock price is 50% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is AWR or CWT more profitable?

California Water Service Group has a net margin of 19.56% compared to American States Water's net margin of 19.26%. American States Water's return on equity of 13.53% beat California Water Service Group's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
American States Water	19.26%	13.53%	4.78%
California Water Service Group	19.56%	13.24%	4.18%

Does the media favor AWR or CWT?

In the previous week, American States Water and American States Water both had 8 articles in the media. American States Water's average media sentiment score of 0.75 beat California Water Service Group's score of 0.61 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	3 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
California Water Service Group	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of AWR or CWT?

75.2% of American States Water shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 82.8% of California Water Service Group shares are held by institutional investors. 0.8% of American States Water shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% of California Water Service Group shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, AWR or CWT?

American States Water has higher earnings, but lower revenue 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.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
American States Water	$577.54M	5.33	$124.92M	$2.97	27.68
California Water Service Group	$1.03B	2.78	$51.91M	$3.46	13.90

Do analysts recommend AWR or CWT?

American States Water presently has a consensus price target of $86.00, suggesting a potential upside of 4.62%. California Water Service Group has a consensus price target of $54.50, suggesting a potential upside of 13.35%. Given California Water Service Group's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe California Water Service Group is more favorable than American States Water.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
American States Water	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
California Water Service Group	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Is AWR or CWT a better dividend stock?

American States Water pays an annual dividend of $1.86 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. 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 out 62.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. California Water Service Group pays out 32.4% 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 increased its dividend for 71 consecutive years and California Water Service Group has increased its dividend for 58 consecutive years. California Water Service Group is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in AWR or CWT?

California Water Service Group received 51 more outperform votes than American States Water when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 53.46% of users gave California Water Service Group an outperform vote while only 50.78% of users gave American States Water an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
American States Water	Outperform Votes 227 50.78%	Underperform Votes 220 49.22%
California Water Service Group	Outperform Votes 278 53.46%	Underperform Votes 242 46.54%

Summary

California Water Service Group beats American States Water on 11 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.