American States Water vs Essential Utilities
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KIRA’s take AI analyst
I put American States Water and Essential Utilities side by side, using each one’s latest annual report. Here is what stands out:
- Essential Utilities is the larger business, with $2.5B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $658M for American States Water, about 3.8 times as much.
- Essential Utilities grew revenue faster (18.6%, against 10.5%).
- Essential Utilities kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (37.2% operating margin, against 30.9%).
- American States Water turned more of its sales into free cash flow (−1.1% FCF margin, against −17.0%).
- American States Water earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (9.3%, against 6.4%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of American States Water’s earnings: a P/E of 23.4x against 21.8x for Essential Utilities.
Who comes out ahead
Of the 10 measures where higher (or lower) is clearly better, how many each company leads.
American States Water
AWR
4/10
FCF marginReturn on capitalReturn on equityNet debt / EBITDA
Essential Utilities
WTRG
6/10
Revenue growth5-year growthOperating marginNet marginPiotroski F-scoreShare count change
Side by side
Best in the row
| Latest fiscal year | AWR FY25 | WTRG FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $3.4B | $12.1B |
| Revenue | $658M | $2.5B |
| Free cash flow | −$7.1M | −$420M |
| Net income | $130M | $616M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 10.5% | 18.6% |
| 5-year growth | 6.2% | 11.1% |
| Share count change | 2.9% | 2.3% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 90.8% | — |
| Operating margin | 30.9% | 37.2% |
| Net margin | 19.8% | 24.9% |
| FCF margin | −1.1% | −17.0% |
| Return on capital | 9.3% | 6.4% |
| Return on equity | 13.3% | 9.4% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $772M | $8.1B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 3.1x | 6.1x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $74.7M | $376M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 23.4x | 21.8x |
| Piotroski F-score | 4 | 5 |
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.