American States Water vs H2O America
Add, change or remove companies; up to four.
KIRA’s take AI analyst
I put American States Water and H2O America side by side, using each one’s latest annual report. Here is what stands out:
- H2O America is the larger business, with $801M of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $658M for American States Water.
- American States Water grew revenue faster (10.5%, against 7.0%).
- American States Water kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (30.9% operating margin, against 22.2%).
- American States Water earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (9.3%, against 4.9%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of American States Water’s earnings: a P/E of 23.3x against 20.1x for H2O America.
Who comes out ahead
Of the 9 measures where higher (or lower) is clearly better, how many each company leads.
American States Water
AWR
7/9
Revenue growthOperating marginNet marginReturn on capitalReturn on equityNet debt / EBITDAShare count change
H2O America
HTO
1/9
5-year growth
Side by side
Best in the row
| Latest fiscal year | AWR FY25 | HTO FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $3.4B | $2.3B |
| Revenue | $658M | $801M |
| Free cash flow | −$7.1M | — |
| Net income | $130M | $103M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 10.5% | 7.0% |
| 5-year growth | 6.2% | 7.2% |
| Share count change | 2.9% | 7.1% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 90.8% | — |
| Operating margin | 30.9% | 22.2% |
| Net margin | 19.8% | 12.8% |
| FCF margin | −1.1% | — |
| Return on capital | 9.3% | 4.9% |
| Return on equity | 13.3% | 7.1% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $772M | $1.9B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 3.1x | 6.3x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $74.7M | $58.6M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 23.3x | 20.1x |
| Piotroski F-score | 4 | 4 |
Ten years
Revenue
Operating margin
Free cash flow
Return on capital
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.