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American Water's (AWK) Pennsylvania Arm to Buy Assets for $5M

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American Water Works Company, Inc.’s (AWK - Free Report) subsidiary, Pennsylvania American Water, recently announced that it has signed a deal to buy the water systems of East Dunkard Water Authority for $5 million. The acquisition will expand Pennsylvania American Water’s footprint to 38 counties around the Commonwealth and add nearly 1,600 consumers in Dunkard and Greene Townships, as well as other regions in Greene County, PA.

The company will invest $17 million in the water system acquired from East Dunkard Water Authority to improve the water treatment plant and overall system reliability in the long run.

Growth Prospects

As of Mar 31, 2023, Pennsylvania American Water entered into six agreements to acquire assets. Closure of all six acquisitions under the agreement will add 28,000 customer connections.

The acquisitions will further expand company’s customer base, and investment made to upgrade the acquired assets will allow it to maintain and provide high-quality services to its new customers.

Pennsylvanian American Water has been upgrading and maintaining its water and wastewater infrastructure by replacing old water mains methodically and has invested nearly $490 million in 2022 for infrastructure upgrades. Proper infrastructure maintenance allows it to serve its 2.3 million customers more efficiently.

Price Performance

Over the past month, shares of AWK have rallied 5.3% against the industry’s 32.5% decline.

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Zacks Rank & Other Key Picks

American Water currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Some other top-ranked companies from the same industry are Consolidated Water Co Ltd. (CWCO - Free Report) , California Water Service Group (CWT - Free Report) and Essential Utilities Inc. (WTRG - Free Report) . Consolidated Water sports a Zacks Rank #1 while California Water and Essential Utilities carry a Zacks Rank #2 at present.

CWCO’s long-term (three- to five-year) earnings growth rate is pegged at 8%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2023 sales indicates an increase of 40.5% over 2022’s reported figure.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CWT’s 2023 earnings per share indicates an year-over-year increase of 4.5%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2023 sales indicates suggests an increa rise of 1.1% over 2022’s reported figure.

WTRG’s long-term earnings growth rate is pegged at 5.6%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2023 sales indicates a year-over-yearn increase of 3%.
 

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