American Water Works vs Essential Utilities
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The short version
- American Water Works is the larger business, with $5.1B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $2.5B for Essential Utilities, about 2.1 times as much.
- Essential Utilities grew revenue faster (18.6%, against 9.7%).
- Essential Utilities kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (37.2% operating margin, against 36.6%).
- Essential Utilities turned more of its sales into free cash flow (−17.0% FCF margin, against −20.8%).
- Essential Utilities earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (6.4%, against 5.8%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of American Water Works’s earnings: a P/E of 24.7x against 22.0x for Essential Utilities.
| Latest fiscal year | AWK · FY25 | WTRG · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $28.0B | $12.2B |
| Revenue | $5.1B | $2.5B |
| Free cash flow | −$1.1B | −$420M |
| Net income | $1.1B | $616M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 9.7% | 18.6% |
| 5-year growth | 6.4% | 11.1% |
| Share count change | 0.0% | 2.3% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | — | — |
| Operating margin | 36.6% | 37.2% |
| Net margin | 21.6% | 24.9% |
| FCF margin | −20.8% | −17.0% |
| Return on capital | 5.8% | 6.4% |
| Return on equity | 10.5% | 9.4% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $15.7B | $8.1B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 5.7x | 6.1x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $633M | $376M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 24.7x | 22.0x |
| Piotroski F-score | 6 | 5 |
Revenue
FY16
AWK $3.3B
WTRG $820M
FY17
AWK $3.4B
WTRG $810M
FY18
AWK $3.4B
WTRG $838M
FY19
AWK $3.6B
WTRG $890M
FY20
AWK $3.8B
WTRG $1.5B
FY21
AWK $3.9B
WTRG $1.9B
FY22
AWK $3.8B
WTRG $2.3B
FY23
AWK $4.2B
WTRG $2.1B
FY24
AWK $4.7B
WTRG $2.1B
FY25
AWK $5.1B
WTRG $2.5B
AWK
WTRG
Operating margin
FY16
AWK 32.9%
WTRG 40.7%
FY17
AWK 37.3%
WTRG 41.3%
FY18
AWK 32.0%
WTRG 38.6%
FY19
AWK 33.6%
WTRG 38.2%
FY20
AWK 33.0%
WTRG 29.7%
FY21
AWK 30.4%
WTRG 32.1%
FY22
AWK 33.6%
WTRG 28.9%
FY23
AWK 35.5%
WTRG 33.7%
FY24
AWK 36.7%
WTRG 36.3%
FY25
AWK 36.6%
WTRG 37.2%
AWK
WTRG
Free cash flow
FY16
AWK −$22.0M
WTRG $13.2M
FY17
AWK $15.0M
WTRG −$96.8M
FY18
AWK −$200M
WTRG −$127M
FY19
AWK −$271M
WTRG −$212M
FY20
AWK −$396M
WTRG −$328M
FY21
AWK −$323M
WTRG −$376M
FY22
AWK −$1.2B
WTRG −$462M
FY23
AWK −$701M
WTRG −$266M
FY24
AWK −$811M
WTRG −$559M
FY25
AWK −$1.1B
WTRG −$420M
AWK
WTRG
Return on capital
FY16
AWK 5.5%
WTRG 10.2%
FY17
AWK 4.9%
WTRG 9.6%
FY18
AWK 5.8%
WTRG 9.2%
FY19
AWK 6.1%
WTRG 9.1%
FY20
AWK 5.9%
WTRG 7.5%
FY21
AWK 5.3%
WTRG 7.6%
FY22
AWK 5.4%
WTRG 7.9%
FY23
AWK 5.7%
WTRG 6.5%
FY24
AWK 5.8%
WTRG 5.7%
FY25
AWK 5.8%
WTRG 6.4%
AWK
WTRG
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.