American Water Works (AWK - Free Report) recently announced that its unit, Missouri American Water, will invest $7.5 million to replace nearly 2.8 miles of water main in Florissant, MO. Through this upgrade project, the company will replace the existing old 2-, 4-, 6- and 8-inch cast iron mains with 12-inch and 20-inch ductile iron mains.
Missouri American Water acquired these assets nearly two decades back and has constantly been making investments to upgrade the quality of water infrastructure and efficiently serve customers.
Proper maintenance and upgrade of the aging water mains are essential to ensure water quality and system pressures as well as increase system resiliency. Pipeline rehabilitation work will increase water pressure in the pipelines to effectively serve customers' needs and help firefighters control emergency situations.
Aging Water Industry Needs Investment
The aging of pipelines is a primary concern for the U.S. water and wastewater industry. It results in pipeline breaks, ultimately resulting in the wastage of valuable potable water and creating the possibility of water contamination.
Per the findings of the American Society of Civil Engineers (“ASCE”), water main breaks occur every two minutes in the United States due to the aging of the existing water infrastructure. Per the ASCE finding, a delay in essential pipeline repairs and maintenance results in the loss of 2.1 trillion gallons of treated water every year in the United States.
Per the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, an investment of $473 billion is necessary to maintain and expand drinking water pipelines and $271 billion for wastewater pipelines to meet demand over the next 20 years. Frequent pipeline breaks result in the wastage of potable water and increase the risk of contamination. Hence, it is quite essential to make systematic investments for the repair and maintenance of the old infrastructure.
American Water plans to invest in the $13-$14 billion range in the 2022-2026 period and within $28-$32 billion between 2022 and 2031 to upgrade as well as strengthen the existing water and wastewater infrastructure. Water utilities like California Water Service Group (CWT - Free Report) , Essential Utilities (WTRG - Free Report) and Middlesex Water (MSEX - Free Report) have well-chalked-out capital investment plans to strengthen their infrastructure.
California Water Service’s capital expenditure planned for 2022, 2023 and 2024 is $355 million, $360 million and $365 million, respectively. The current dividend yield of California Water Service is 1.7%.
Essential Utilities aims at investing $3 billion through 2024 to strengthen water and natural gas operations. The current dividend yield of Essential Utilities is 2.1%. WTRG pulled off an earnings surprise of 1.3% in the last four quarters, on average.
Middlesex Water plans to invest $229 million during the 2022-2024 period to strengthen its water and wastewater infrastructure to provide services to customers in a safe, reliable and efficient manner. The current dividend yield of Middlesex Water is 1.1%.
Price Performance
Shares of AWK have rallied 9.7% in the past year compared with the industry’s 9.8% growth.
Zacks Rank
American Water currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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American Water Works (AWK - Free Report) recently announced that its unit, Missouri American Water, will invest $7.5 million to replace nearly 2.8 miles of water main in Florissant, MO. Through this upgrade project, the company will replace the existing old 2-, 4-, 6- and 8-inch cast iron mains with 12-inch and 20-inch ductile iron mains.
Missouri American Water acquired these assets nearly two decades back and has constantly been making investments to upgrade the quality of water infrastructure and efficiently serve customers.
Proper maintenance and upgrade of the aging water mains are essential to ensure water quality and system pressures as well as increase system resiliency. Pipeline rehabilitation work will increase water pressure in the pipelines to effectively serve customers' needs and help firefighters control emergency situations.
Aging Water Industry Needs Investment
The aging of pipelines is a primary concern for the U.S. water and wastewater industry. It results in pipeline breaks, ultimately resulting in the wastage of valuable potable water and creating the possibility of water contamination.
Per the findings of the American Society of Civil Engineers (“ASCE”), water main breaks occur every two minutes in the United States due to the aging of the existing water infrastructure. Per the ASCE finding, a delay in essential pipeline repairs and maintenance results in the loss of 2.1 trillion gallons of treated water every year in the United States.
Per the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, an investment of $473 billion is necessary to maintain and expand drinking water pipelines and $271 billion for wastewater pipelines to meet demand over the next 20 years. Frequent pipeline breaks result in the wastage of potable water and increase the risk of contamination. Hence, it is quite essential to make systematic investments for the repair and maintenance of the old infrastructure.
American Water plans to invest in the $13-$14 billion range in the 2022-2026 period and within $28-$32 billion between 2022 and 2031 to upgrade as well as strengthen the existing water and wastewater infrastructure. Water utilities like California Water Service Group (CWT - Free Report) , Essential Utilities (WTRG - Free Report) and Middlesex Water (MSEX - Free Report) have well-chalked-out capital investment plans to strengthen their infrastructure.
California Water Service’s capital expenditure planned for 2022, 2023 and 2024 is $355 million, $360 million and $365 million, respectively. The current dividend yield of California Water Service is 1.7%.
Essential Utilities aims at investing $3 billion through 2024 to strengthen water and natural gas operations. The current dividend yield of Essential Utilities is 2.1%. WTRG pulled off an earnings surprise of 1.3% in the last four quarters, on average.
Middlesex Water plans to invest $229 million during the 2022-2024 period to strengthen its water and wastewater infrastructure to provide services to customers in a safe, reliable and efficient manner. The current dividend yield of Middlesex Water is 1.1%.
Price Performance
Shares of AWK have rallied 9.7% in the past year compared with the industry’s 9.8% growth.
Zacks Rank
American Water currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Just Released: Zacks Top 10 Stocks for 2024
Hurry – you can still get in early on our 10 top tickers for 2024. Hand-picked by Zacks Director of Research, Sheraz Mian, this portfolio has been stunningly and consistently successful. From inception in 2012 through November, 2023, the Zacks Top 10 Stocks gained +974.1%, nearly TRIPLING the S&P 500’s +340.1%. Sheraz has combed through 4,400 companies covered by the Zacks Rank and handpicked the best 10 to buy and hold in 2024. You can still be among the first to see these just-released stocks with enormous potential.
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