American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) versus Veolia Environnement (OTCMKTS:VEOEY) Financial Comparison

Veolia Environnement (OTCMKTS:VEOEY) and American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) are both large-cap utilities companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, risk, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Dividends

Veolia Environnement pays an annual dividend of $0.53 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. American Water Works pays an annual dividend of $3.31 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. American Water Works pays out 59.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. American Water Works has raised its dividend for 18 consecutive years.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

0.2% of Veolia Environnement shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.6% of American Water Works shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of Veolia Environnement shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of American Water Works shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Veolia Environnement and American Water Works”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Veolia Environnement	$48.37 billion	0.51	$1.19 billion	N/A	N/A
American Water Works	$4.68 billion	5.67	$1.05 billion	$5.55	24.52

Veolia Environnement has higher revenue and earnings than American Water Works.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Veolia Environnement and American Water Works, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Veolia Environnement	1	1	0	1	2.33
American Water Works	2	5	1	0	1.88

American Water Works has a consensus price target of $141.13, indicating a potential upside of 3.69%. Given American Water Works’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe American Water Works is more favorable than Veolia Environnement.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Veolia Environnement	N/A	N/A	N/A
American Water Works	21.91%	10.34%	3.29%

Volatility and Risk

Veolia Environnement has a beta of 1.11, meaning that its stock price is 11% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, American Water Works has a beta of 0.7, meaning that its stock price is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500.

About Veolia Environnement

Veolia Environnement SA designs and provides water, waste, and energy management solutions worldwide. It operates through France and Special Waste Europe; Europe excluding France; Rest of the World; Water Technologies; and Other segments. The company is involved in resource management; customer relationship management; drinking water treatment and distribution; wastewater treatment; design and construction of treatment and network infrastructure; and sale of water treatment equipment, technologies, and facilities. It provides waste collection, product recovery and waste-to-energy processing, including sale of recycled products; dismantling and remediation; hazardous waste processing; urban cleaning; and industrial maintenance and cleaning services. In addition, the company engages in the operation and maintenance of heating and cooling networks; optimization of industrial utilities, such as steam generation, cooling, electricity, compressed air; installation and maintenance of production equipment; development of energy services to reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions of buildings; integrated services for building management, and the production of electricity from biomass, as well as provides thermal and multi-technical services. It serves industrial and service sector companies, public authorities, and individuals. The company was formerly known as Vivendi Environnement and changed its name to Veolia Environnement SA in January 2003. Veolia Environnement SA was founded in 1853 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.