Critical Survey: American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) vs. Suez (OTCMKTS:SZEVF)

Suez (OTCMKTS:SZEVF) and American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) are both utilities companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends, valuation, profitability and institutional ownership.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

86.6% of American Water Works shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of American Water Works shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Suez and American Water Works, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Suez	0	0	0	0	0.00
American Water Works	1	8	1	0	2.00

American Water Works has a consensus price target of $138.78, suggesting a potential upside of 2.37%. Given American Water Works’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe American Water Works is more favorable than Suez.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Suez and American Water Works”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Suez	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
American Water Works	$5.14 billion	5.24	$1.11 billion	$5.77	23.49

American Water Works has higher revenue and earnings than Suez.

Profitability

This table compares Suez and American Water Works’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Suez	N/A	N/A	N/A
American Water Works	21.35%	10.20%	3.20%

Summary

American Water Works beats Suez on 9 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Suez

SUEZ SA engages in the provision of water and waste management services through its subsidiaries. It operates through the following segments: Water, Recycling and Recovery, Environmental Technology and Solutions (ETS), and Other. The Water segment offers water distribution and treatment services, particularly under concession contracts. The Recycling and Recovery segment includes waste and waste treatment services for local authorities and industrial clients. The ETS segment consists of water services for the industrial customer segment, hazardous waste services as well as customized services, technologies and solutions for industrial or municipal customers, as well as consulting services. The Other segment refers to the holdings. The company was founded in 1822 and is headquartered in Paris, France.

About American Water Works

American Water Works Company, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides water and wastewater services in the United States. It offers water and wastewater services to approximately 1,700 communities in 14 states serving approximately 3.5 million active customers. The company serves residential customers; commercial customers, including food and beverage providers, commercial property developers and proprietors, and energy suppliers; fire service and private fire customers; industrial customers, such as large-scale manufacturers, mining, and production operations; public authorities comprising government buildings and other public sector facilities, such as schools and universities; and other utilities and community water and wastewater systems. It also provides water and wastewater services on military installations; and undertakes contracts with municipal customers, primarily to operate and manage water and wastewater facilities, as well as offers other related services. In addition, the company operates approximately 80 surface water treatment plants; 540 groundwater treatment plants; 175 wastewater treatment plants; 53,700 miles of transmission, distribution, and collection mains and pipes; 1,200 groundwater wells; 1,700 water and wastewater pumping stations; 1,100 treated water storage facilities; and 74 dams. The company was founded in 1886 and is headquartered in Camden, New Jersey.