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Reasons to Add American Water Works (AWK) to Your Portfolio Now

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American Water Works Company Inc.’s (AWK - Free Report) long-term investment plans in infrastructure should allow it to provide quality services to its expanding customer base. The company continues to expand operations through organic and inorganic initiatives. Given its growth opportunities, AWK makes for a solid investment option in the utility sector.

Let’s focus on the factors that make this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) company a strong investment pick at the moment.

Growth Projections & Surprise History

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2024 earnings per share (EPS) has moved up 1% in the past 90 days to $5.22.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2024 revenues is pinned at $4.27 billion, implying an increase of 0.8% from the year-ago level.

AWK’s long-term (three-to-five years) earnings growth rate is 8%. The company delivered an average earnings surprise of 6% in the last four quarters.

Dividend History

American Water Works has consistently increased shareholders' value by paying dividends. Currently, its quarterly dividend is 70.75 cents per share, resulting in an annualized payout of $2.83 per share. The company expects its dividend per share to increase 7-9% over the long term. AWK’s current dividend yield is 2.45%, better than the Zacks S&P 500 Composite’s 1.62%.

Solvency

The time-to-interest earned ratio at the end of fourth-quarter 2023 was 3.6. The ratio, being greater than one, reflects American Water Works’ ability to meet future interest obligations without difficulties.

Return on Equity

Return on equity (ROE) indicates how efficiently a company has been utilizing the funds to generate higher returns. Currently, American Water Works’ ROE is 9.7%, higher than the sector’s average of 8.68%. This indicates that the company has been utilizing funds more constructively than its peers in the utility sector.

Systematic Investments

American Water Works plans to invest $3.1 billion in 2024 to strengthen and expand its water and wastewater infrastructure, with a major portion utilized for infrastructure improvements in Regulated Businesses. Over the long term, it aims to invest in the range of $16-$17 billion in 2024-2028 and in the $34-$38 billion band during 2024-2033.

These systematic investments will extend and strengthen AWK's infrastructure, assisting it in catering to the rising demand from its expanding customer base and, in turn, generating more revenues for the company.

Price Performance

In the past month, the stock fell 0.6% compared with the industry’s 0.7% decline.

 

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Other Stocks to Consider

Some other top-ranked stocks in the same industry are The York Water Company (YORW - Free Report) , American States Water (AWR - Free Report) and Global Water Resources (GWRS - Free Report) , each carrying a Zacks Rank of 2 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

The York Water, American States Water and Global Water Resources recorded a trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise of 8.6%, 3.1% and 28.8%, respectively.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for YORW, AWR and GWRS’ first-quarter 2024 EPS implies growth of 11.5%, 9.3% and 33.3%, respectively, from the year-earlier levels.

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