Sifting through countless of stocks in the Water Utilities industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in California Water Service Group or American States Water Company because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how California Water Service Group and American States Water Company compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About California Water Service Group and American States Water Company

California Water Service Group, through its subsidiaries, provides water utility and other related services in California, Washington, New Mexico, Hawaii, and Texas. It 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. The company offers its services to approximately 500,000 customer connections in 20 separate districts; approximately 6,800 water and wastewater customer connections on the islands of Kauai, Maui, Oahu, and Hawaii; approximately 38,500 customer connections in the Tacoma, Olympia, Graham, Spanaway, Puyallup, Rainier, Yelm, and Gig Harbor areas; and approximately 11,800 water and wastewater customer connections in Rio Communities, Rio Del Oro, Meadow Lake, Indian Hills, Squaw Valley, Elephant Butte, Morningstar, Sandia Knolls, Juan Tomas, Monterey, 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 wastewater collection and treatment services. California Water Service Group was founded in 1926 and is headquartered in San Jose, California.

American States Water Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of water and electric services to residential, commercial, industrial, and other customers in the United States. It operates through three segments: Water, Electric, and Contracted Services. The company purchases, produces, distributes, and sells water, as well as distributes electricity. It provides water service to approximately 265,100 customers; and distributes electricity to approximately 24,900 customers in several San Bernardino County Mountain communities in California. The company also offers water and/or wastewater services at various military installations. American States Water Company was founded in 1929 and is headquartered in San Dimas, California.

Latest Water Utilities and California Water Service Group, American States Water Company Stock News

As of July 31, 2026, California Water Service Group had a $3.1 billion market capitalization, compared to the Water Utilities median of $2.9 million. California Water Service Group’s stock is up 15.6% in 2026, down 1.2% in the previous five trading days and up 11.63% in the past year.

Currently, California Water Service Group’s price-earnings ratio is 25.1. California Water Service Group’s trailing 12-month revenue is $1.0 billion with a 12.6% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 5.2%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $2.740 per share for the current fiscal year. California Water Service Group currently has a 2.7% dividend yield.

As of July 31, 2026, American States Water Company had a $3.4 billion market cap, putting it in the 61st percentile of all stocks. American States Water Company’s stock is up 18.2% in 2026, down 0.9% in the previous five trading days and up 16.5% in the past year.

Currently, American States Water Company’s price-earnings ratio is 25.0. American States Water Company’s trailing 12-month revenue is $679.3 million with a 19.7% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 14.3%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $3.677 per share for the current fiscal year. American States Water Company currently has a 2.4% dividend yield.

How We Compare California Water Service Group and American States Water Company Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at California Water Service Group and American States Water Company’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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California Water Service Group and American States Water Company Stock Value Grades

Company	Ticker	Value
California Water Service Group	CWT	C
American States Water Company	AWR	D

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection.

Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

AAII’s A+ Investor Value Grade derives from a stock’s value score. The Value Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of the price-to-sales ratio, price-earnings ratio, enterprise-value-to-EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) ratio, shareholder yield, price-to-book-value ratio and price-to-free-cash-flow ratio. The score is variable, meaning it can consider all six ratios or, should any of the six ratios not be valid, the remaining ratios that are valid. To be assigned a Value Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) ratio and corresponding ranking for at least two of the six valuation ratios.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are a good value and so on.

California Water Service Group has a Value Score of 48, which is Average. American States Water Company has a Value Score of 29, which is Expensive.

The Value Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither California Water Service Group or American States Water Company has a high enough value grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors who are considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolio. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if California Water Service Group or American States Water Company is the better investment when it comes to value.

California Water Service Group and American States Water Company’s Quality Grades

Company	Ticker	Quality
California Water Service Group	CWT	D
American States Water Company	AWR	C

Like the Value Grade, AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the percentile rank of key metrics. Specifically, the Quality Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and the F-Score.

The score is variable, meaning it can consider all eight measures or, should any of the eight measures not be valid, the remaining measures that are valid. To be assigned a Quality Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) measure and corresponding ranking for at least four of the eight quality measures.

The Quality Score is used to assess the underlying “quality” of a particular stock. A higher-quality stock possesses traits associated with upside potential and reduced downside risk. Backtesting of the Quality Grade shows that stocks with higher grades, on average, outperformed stocks with lower grades over the period of 1998 through 2019.

Stocks receive better grades (higher scores) for having higher scores for the quality subcomponents and worse grades (lower scores) for lower scores for the subcomponents.

California Water Service Group has a Quality Score of 32, which is Weak. American States Water Company has a Quality Score of 56, which is Average.

The Quality Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither California Water Service Group or American States Water Company has a high enough Quality Grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors who are considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolios. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if California Water Service Group or American States Water Company is the better investment when it comes to quality.

California Water Service Group and American States Water Company’s Estimate Revisions Grades

Company	Ticker	Earnings Estimate
California Water Service Group	CWT	C
American States Water Company	AWR	C

Earnings estimate revisions scores consider the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, positive surprises beget further positive surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

Estimate revisions offer an indication of what analysts are thinking about the short-term prospects of a firm. Estimate revisions are based on the statistical significance of a firm’s last two quarterly earnings surprises and the percentage change in its consensus estimate for the current fiscal year over the past month and past three months.

California Water Service Group has a Earnings Estimate Score of 59, which is Neutral. American States Water Company has a Earnings Estimate Score of 57, which is Neutral.

The Earnings Estimate Revisions Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither California Water Service Group or American States Water Company has an Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade that could be considered a “winner.” Investors considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolios. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if California Water Service Group or American States Water Company is the better investment when it comes to estimate revisions.

Other California Water Service Group and American States Water Company Grades

In addition to Estimate Revisions, Quality and Value, A+ Investor also provides grades for Growth and Momentum.

Momentum grades help uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming.

Growth investing builds on the idea that stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth outperform those of slower-growth companies. AAII measures growth through consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations.

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether California Water Service Group and American States Water Company pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, California Water Service Group or American States Water Company Stock?

Overall, California Water Service Group stock has a Value Score of 48, Estimate Revisions Score of 59 and Quality Score of 32.

American States Water Company stock has a Value Score of 29, Estimate Revisions Score of 57 and Quality Score of 56.

Comparing California Water Service Group and American States Water Company’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.