American Water Works Company, Inc. (AWK) Stock

American Water Works Company, Inc. (AWK) is a Utilities stock trading at $129.17 (as of 2026-07-15), with a market capitalization of $25.22B and a trailing P/E of 23.6. Figures are sourced from first-party U.S. SEC EDGAR filings and market data.

American Water Works Company, Inc., through subsidiaries, provides water and wastewater services across the United States, serving about 1,700 communities in 14 states and approximately 3.4 million active customers. It supplies residential, commercial, industrial, public-sector and other customers, operates water and wastewater treatment plants and distribution networks, and also serves military installations and manages municipal water and wastewater facilities under contracts.

Understand American Water Works Company, Inc.: how it makes money

American Water provides water and wastewater services to communities in the United States, and it makes money by charging customers for these regulated services with revenues influenced by rate cases, step increases, and related infrastructure surcharges.

American Water's profit model is closely tied to the regulated timing and outcomes of rate cases and step increases, including annualized revenue added from pending rate proceedings and infrastructure surcharges.

Revenue by segment (latest quarter)
Regulated Water & Wastewater	$1.2B

Business quality (Solid): The dataset highlights the rate-case driven operating engine (pending proceedings, annualized revenue requests), but it does not provide a clean multi-segment revenue breakdown beyond consolidated regulated results.

Valuation: At 22× earnings, AWK trades in line with the Utilities average (22×). Note: one-time items can distort reported P/E.

Bull case

Large regulated service footprint: It provides water and wastewater services to approximately 1,700 communities in 14 states, serving approximately 3.4 million active customers.
Rate-case activity is explicitly tracked: The company reports annualized revenue associated with pending rate proceedings, and also tracks annualized revenue requests pending.

Bear case

Regulatory timing and approval uncertainty: Because operating revenue drivers are linked to pending rate proceedings and pending revenue requests, outcomes and timing of commission decisions can affect realized revenues.
Pipeline execution risk: If annualized new revenues and rates from general rate cases and step increases (and related infrastructure surcharges) do not convert as expected, the expected contribution from the pipeline can be delayed or reduced.

Valuation — source: SEC EDGAR (first-party)
Price	$129.17
Market Cap	$25.22B
P/E Ratio	23.6
EV / EBITDA	7.7
Price / Book	2.29
Price / Sales	4.98
FCF Yield	-7.5%
DCF Value (model)	$162.32
DCF Upside vs Price	25.7%

Profitability & Growth — source: SEC EDGAR
Revenue (TTM)	$5.12B
Net Margin	21.7%
Revenue Growth (YoY)	10.1%
EPS Growth (YoY)	5.6%
FCF Growth (YoY)	31.6%

Financial Health — source: SEC EDGAR
Altman Z-Score	0.95 (distress)

Valuation vs Sector & Industry
Stock P/E	23.6
Sector P/E (Utilities)	21.2
Industry P/E (Utilities)	20.9
vs Sector	11.4%
vs Industry	12.9%

Smart-Money Activity — SEC Form 4 / 13F / Congressional disclosures
Top Institutional Holder	VANGUARD GROUP INC ($3.38B)
Institutional Holders Tracked	10
Congressional Trades (recent)	10

Company
Sector	Utilities
Industry	Utilities
CEO	John C. Griffith
Employees	6,700
Country	US
IPO Date	2008-04-23

Related Companies (Business model: Regulated Utility (Electric / Gas); 8 closest by market cap; US-domiciled)

Data as of 2026-07-15.

Figures sourced from U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC EDGAR) filings and market data. Not personalized investment advice.