SJW Group (SJW) Competitors

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

Does the media refer more to SJW or AWR?

In the previous week, American States Water had 3 more articles in the media than SJW Group. MarketBeat recorded 7 mentions for American States Water and 4 mentions for SJW Group. American States Water's average media sentiment score of 1.07 beat SJW Group's score of 0.81 indicating that American States Water is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
SJW Group	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
American States Water	5 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is SJW or AWR more profitable?

American States Water has a net margin of 19.26% compared to SJW Group's net margin of 12.47%. American States Water's return on equity of 13.53% beat SJW Group's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
SJW Group	12.47%	7.16%	2.05%
American States Water	19.26%	13.53%	4.78%

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer SJW or AWR?

SJW Group received 163 more outperform votes than American States Water when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 61.22% of users gave SJW Group an outperform vote while only 50.78% of users gave American States Water an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
SJW Group	Outperform Votes 390 61.22%	Underperform Votes 247 38.78%
American States Water	Outperform Votes 227 50.78%	Underperform Votes 220 49.22%

Which has higher earnings & valuation, SJW or AWR?

American States Water has lower revenue, but higher earnings than SJW Group. SJW 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
SJW Group	$721.96M	2.27	$84.99M	$2.76	18.19
American States Water	$577.54M	5.16	$124.92M	$2.97	26.77

Do analysts recommend SJW or AWR?

SJW Group presently has a consensus price target of $63.00, suggesting a potential upside of 25.50%. American States Water has a consensus price target of $86.00, suggesting a potential upside of 8.16%. Given SJW Group's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe SJW Group is more favorable than American States Water.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
SJW Group	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33
American States Water	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Do insiders and institutionals believe in SJW or AWR?

84.3% of SJW Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 75.2% of American States Water shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.4% of SJW 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 endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Which has more risk and volatility, SJW or AWR?

SJW Group has a beta of 0.62, suggesting that its stock price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, American States Water has a beta of 0.51, suggesting that its stock price is 49% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is SJW or AWR a better dividend stock?

SJW Group pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. American States Water pays an annual dividend of $1.86 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. SJW Group pays out 58.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. American States Water pays out 62.6% 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. SJW Group is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

American States Water beats SJW Group on 11 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.