Cadiz (NASDAQ:CDZIP) and California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) Financial Contrast

California Water Service Group (NYSE:CWT) and Cadiz (NASDAQ:CDZIP) are both utilities companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, profitability and institutional ownership.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations for California Water Service Group and Cadiz, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
California Water Service Group	0	1	0	0	2.00
Cadiz	0	0	0	0	0.00

California Water Service Group currently has a consensus price target of $54.00, indicating a potential upside of 6.62%. Given California Water Service Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe California Water Service Group is more favorable than Cadiz.

Dividends

California Water Service Group pays an annual dividend of $1.34 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. Cadiz pays an annual dividend of $2.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 9.9%. California Water Service Group pays out 60.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. California Water Service Group has raised its dividend for 59 consecutive years.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares California Water Service Group and Cadiz”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
California Water Service Group	$1.00 billion	3.13	$128.21 million	$2.22	22.81
Cadiz	$14.99 million	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

California Water Service Group has higher revenue and earnings than Cadiz.

Profitability

This table compares California Water Service Group and Cadiz’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
California Water Service Group	12.63%	7.74%	2.32%
Cadiz	N/A	N/A	N/A

Insider & Institutional Ownership

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

Summary

California Water Service Group beats Cadiz on 9 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About California Water Service Group

California Water Service Group, through its subsidiaries, provides water utility and other related services in California, Washington, New Mexico, Hawaii, and Texas. The company is involved in the production, purchase, storage, treatment, testing, distribution, and sale of water for domestic, industrial, public, and irrigation uses, as well as for fire protection services. It offers its services to approximately 497,700 customer connections in 100 California communities; approximately 6,500 water and wastewater customer connections on the islands of Maui, Oahu, and Hawaii; approximately 38,000 customer connections in the Tacoma, Olympia, Graham, Spanaway, Puyallup, Rainier, Yelm, and Gig Harbor areas; and approximately 11,400 water and wastewater customer connections in Rio Communities, Rio Del Oro, Meadow Lake, Indian Hills, Squaw Valley, Elephant Butte, Morningstar, Sandia Knolls, Juan Tomas, and Cypress Gardens systems. The company also engages in the provision of non-regulated water-related services, including operating of municipally owned water systems, privately owned water, and recycled water distribution systems; water system operation, meter reading, and billing services to private companies and municipalities; leasing of communication antenna sites on its properties; and billing of optional third-party insurance programs to its residential customers. In addition, it provides lab, wastewater collection, and treatment services. California Water Service Group was founded in 1926 and is headquartered in San Jose, California.

About Cadiz

Cadiz Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides water solutions in the United States. The company operates through Land and Water Resources; and Water Filtration Technology segments. It offers water supply, water storage, water conveyance, and water filtration services. In addition, the company is involved in the cultivation of grain crops and alfalfa, as well as provides water filtration solutions for impaired or contaminated groundwater sources. It serves public water systems, government agencies, and other clients. Cadiz Inc. was founded in 1983 and is based in Los Angeles, California.