American States Water (NYSE:AWR) vs. Pure Cycle (NASDAQ:PCYO) Financial Contrast

Pure Cycle (NASDAQ:PCYO) and American States Water (NYSE:AWR) are both utilities companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, risk, dividends, valuation and earnings.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

51.4% of Pure Cycle shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 75.2% of American States Water shares are held by institutional investors. 6.1% of Pure Cycle shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of American States Water 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.

Profitability

This table compares Pure Cycle and American States Water’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Pure Cycle	43.66%	9.98%	8.75%
American States Water	20.39%	13.19%	5.23%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Pure Cycle and American States Water, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Pure Cycle	0	1	0	0	2.00
American States Water	0	2	2	0	2.50

American States Water has a consensus price target of $99.00, indicating a potential upside of 10.10%. Given American States Water’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe American States Water is more favorable than Pure Cycle.

Risk and Volatility

Pure Cycle has a beta of 1.16, suggesting that its share price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, American States Water has a beta of 0.54, suggesting that its share price is 46% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Pure Cycle and American States Water”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Pure Cycle	$33.73 million	7.82	$13.11 million	$0.61	17.93
American States Water	$658.07 million	5.42	$130.44 million	$3.65	24.64

American States Water has higher revenue and earnings than Pure Cycle. Pure Cycle 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.

Summary

American States Water beats Pure Cycle on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Pure Cycle

Pure Cycle Corporation is a water and wastewater services company based in Colorado. The company develops, owns and operates water and wastewater systems, supplying treated water and providing wastewater collection, treatment and reclamation services for residential, commercial and municipal customers. Pure Cycle owns water rights and related infrastructure in the South Platte River Basin and operates facilities that include water treatment, storage and distribution systems, as well as wastewater treatment and reclamation assets.

About American States Water

American States Water Company is a holding company whose subsidiaries provide water, electric and wastewater services. Its regulated utility subsidiary, Golden State Water Company, delivers water to customers in communities across California and provides electric service in the Big Bear area through Bear Valley Electric Service. Through American States Utility Services, the company also operates and maintains water and wastewater systems at U.S. military installations under long-term contracts. These services include system operations, maintenance and infrastructure-related work.