AWK vs ES vs AQN Stock Comparison

American Water Works Company, Eversource Energy and Algonquin Power & Utilities Prices as of Nov 5, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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ES Eversource Energy
$71.93 +10.2% 1M -1.3% 1Y
Market cap
$27.09B
P/E
18.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$14.00B
Div. yield
4.34%
Regulated Electric Utilities Utilities
4 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

American Water Works Company leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (American Water Works Company 7, Eversource Energy 4, Algonquin Power & Utilities 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAWKESAQNLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $30.35B $27.09B $4.32B AWK
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 26.7x 18.7x 31.0x ES
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 26.7x 16.4x 16.5x ES
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +5.4% +7.8% +5.7% ES
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 21.3% 10.4% 11.5% AWK
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 6.0% 6.0% 3.4% AWK
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 5.5x 5.9x 7.0x AWK
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 2.27% 4.34% 4.98% AQN
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +16.4% -1.3% +0.5% AWK
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -2.1%/yr -3.2%/yr -17.0%/yr AWK
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 22.3% 25.0% 25.9% AWK
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 49/100 68/100 57/100 ES

Percentile Scorecard

AWKESAQN

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisAWKESAQN
Valuation 5 #64 of 67 86 #10 of 67 77 #16 of 67
Growth 47 #35 of 65 92 #6 of 65 67 #22 of 65
Profitability 91 #7 of 65 56 #29 of 65 67 #22 of 65
Financial Health 45 #37 of 66 26 #49 of 66 39 #41 of 66
Shareholder Returns 61 #27 of 67 77 #16 of 67 36 #43 of 67
Overall 49 68 57
  • AWK ranked among 67 companies in Regulated Utilities
  • ES ranked among 67 companies in Regulated Utilities
  • AQN ranked among 67 companies in Regulated Utilities

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodAWKESAQNSPY
1 month +19.1%+10.2%+11.1% -5.9%
3 months +13.1%-0.2%-2.3% -4.6%
6 months +20.8%+7.3%-10.5% +0.2%
Year to date +16.8%+6.8%-8.6% +7.5%
1 year +16.4%-1.3%+0.5% +8.2%
3 years +19.5%+27.2%-1.1% +68.3%
3 years, per year +6.1%+8.3%-0.4% +19.0%
5 years -10.1%-14.8%-60.6% +56.5%
5 years, per year -2.1%-3.2%-17.0% +9.4%
10 years +116.0%+35.3%-34.4% +251.5%
10 years, per year +8.0%+3.1%-4.1% +13.4%

Risk

MeasureAWKESAQNSPY
Volatility, 1Y 22.3%25.0%25.9% 13.6%
Downside volatility, 1Y 19.9%29.5%28.4% 14.2%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.46-0.050.20 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.73-0.050.02 0.60
Max drawdown, 5Y -39.7%-44.2%-73.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high 0.0%-5.6%-19.5% -5.9%
52-week high $152.44$76.21$6.98 $779.14
52-week low $121.13$63.29$4.99 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleAWKESAQN
P/E now vs peer median 26.7xmedian 20.6x 18.7xmedian 20.6x 31.0xmedian 20.6x
P/S now vs peer median 5.7xmedian 2.9x 1.9xmedian 2.9x 3.6xmedian 2.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 15.9xmedian 12.9x 11.7xmedian 12.9x 11.6xmedian 12.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median -26.2xmedian 33.3x 91.0xmedian 33.3x 27.1xmedian 33.3x
P/B now vs peer median 2.5xmedian 1.8x 1.7xmedian 1.8x 0.9xmedian 1.8x
PEG now vs peer median 4.07median 2.04 4.10median 2.04 0.88median 2.04

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsAWKESAQN
Revenue $5.34B $14.00B $1.21B
Gross profit – – -$435.80M
Operating income $1.98B $3.02B $525.40M
Net income $1.14B $1.46B $167.50M
Free cash flow -$1.16B $297.71M $159.40M
EPS (diluted) $5.71 $3.84 $0.18
Cash & equivalents $121.00M $1.82B $55.00M
Total debt $16.34B $29.22B $6.64B
Shares (diluted) 199.00M 377.00M 772.41M
Enterprise value $29.80B $24.69B $4.48B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricAWKESAQN
P/E 26.7x 18.7x 31.0x
P/FCF -26.2x 91.0x 27.1x
P/Operating cash flow 13.2x 6.1x 4.2x
P/S 5.7x 1.9x 3.6x
P/B 2.5x 1.7x 0.9x
P/Tangible book 2.5x 1.7x 0.9x
EV/EBITDA 15.9x 11.7x 11.6x
EV/EBIT 23.5x 18.1x 20.7x
EV/Revenue 8.7x 3.9x 9.0x
EV/FCF -40.2x 183.0x 68.4x
EV/Operating cash flow 20.3x 12.3x 10.6x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 4.07 4.10 0.88

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAWKESAQN
Revenue growth (1Y) 5.4% 7.8% 5.7%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 8.9% 3.4% -5.3%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – – 5.7%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – 6.1%
Operating income growth (1Y) 5.6% 18.3% 14.0%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 10.5% 8.1% -5.8%
Net income growth (1Y) 2.2% 68.3% 112.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 7.3% 7.2% 52.3%
EPS growth (1Y) 0.1% 65.3% 153.3%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 6.6% 4.6% 35.1%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 12.9% 34.4% 6.7%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 10.8% 26.2% 11.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -23.5% 129.4% -45.1%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -13.7% 29.5% 28.6%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAWKESAQN
Gross margin – – -36.1%
EBITDA margin 54.9% 33.3% 77.8%
Operating margin 37.0% 21.5% 43.6%
Pretax margin 27.0% 11.8% 16.2%
Net margin 21.3% 10.4% 11.5%
FCF margin -21.7% 2.1% 13.2%
Operating cash flow margin 43.0% 31.6% 85.2%
Return on equity 9.6% 8.9% 1.5%
Return on assets 3.1% 2.3% –
Return on invested capital 6.0% 6.0% 3.4%
Return on capital employed 6.0% 5.4% –
Asset turnover 0.1x 0.2x –
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.0x 3.0x 6.1x
Stock comp / revenue – – 1.0%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAWKESAQN
Debt / assets 43.9% 46.1% 47.7%
Debt / equity 1.4x 1.8x 1.3x
Net debt / EBITDA 5.5x 5.9x 7.0x
Debt / FCF -14.1x 98.2x 41.6x
Liabilities / assets 68.0% 74.2% 64.3%
Equity / assets 32.0% 25.8% 35.7%
Interest coverage 3.0x 2.2x 1.9x
Current ratio 0.4x 0.8x 0.9x
Quick ratio 0.3x 0.4x 0.4x
Cash ratio 0.0x 0.2x 0.1x
Altman Z-score 1.08 0.79 0.19

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAWKESAQN
Dividend yield 2.3% 4.3% 5.0%
Net buyback yield – – -0.2%
Shareholder yield 2.3% 4.3% 4.8%
Payout ratio (earnings) 59.4% 77.7% 180.2%
Payout ratio (FCF) -58.3% 380.4% 189.3%
Dividend growth (1Y) 8.7% 7.7% -30.8%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 9.5% 8.3% -17.9%

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusAWKESAQN
Forward P/E 26.7xFY2026 16.4xFY2026 16.5xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $5.71FY2026 $4.39FY2026 $0.34FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +0.4%FY2026 -7.8%FY2026 0.0%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +11.0% +9.3% +17.6%
Revenue, next fiscal year $5.17BFY2026 $13.05BFY2026 $2.44BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +0.6%FY2026 -3.7%FY2026 +0.5%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +10.4% +7.0% +15.1%
AWK estimates →ES estimates →AQN estimates →

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAWKESAQN
Held by institutions 100.0% 86.2% 68.7%
Institutions holding 1,129 1,112 241
Change in shares held, QoQ +8.0% +3.7% +2.1%
Institutions buying 530 616 129
Institutions selling 417 322 67
Buyers to sellers 1.27 1.91 1.93
AWK holders →ES holders →AQN holders →

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

AWKESAQN
AWK 1.00 0.47 0.20
ES 0.47 1.00 0.32
AQN 0.20 0.32 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry
AWK · Water Utilities
+WTRGEssential Utilities +AWRAmerican States Water +CWTCalifornia Water Service +HTOH2O America +NWNNorthwest Natural Holding +MSEXMiddlesex Water +YORWYork Water +CWCOConsolidated Water
Plot all 18 Water Utilities stocks → Plot all 56 Regulated Electric Utilities stocks →

Related Comparisons

AWK vs WTRGEssential Utilities AWK vs AWRAmerican States Water AWK vs CWTCalifornia Water Service AWK vs HTOH2O America

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AWK, ES and AQN?

American Water Works Company (AWK) is the largest by market capitalisation: American Water Works Company (AWK) $30.35B, Eversource Energy (ES) $27.09B, Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN) $4.32B.

Which stock is cheaper, AWK, ES and AQN?

Eversource Energy (ES) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (American Water Works Company (AWK) 26.7x, Eversource Energy (ES) 18.7x, Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN) 31.0x). On next year's consensus earnings, Eversource Energy (ES) is cheapest (American Water Works Company (AWK) 26.7x, Eversource Energy (ES) 16.4x, Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN) 16.5x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Eversource Energy (ES) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: American Water Works Company (AWK) +5.4%, Eversource Energy (ES) +7.8%, Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN) +5.7%.

Which company is more profitable?

American Water Works Company (AWK) has the highest net margin (American Water Works Company (AWK) 21.3%, Eversource Energy (ES) 10.4%, Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN) 11.5%). On return on invested capital, American Water Works Company (AWK) leads (American Water Works Company (AWK) 6.0%, Eversource Energy (ES) 6.0%, Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN) 3.4%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year American Water Works Company (AWK) returned the most: American Water Works Company (AWK) +16.4%, Eversource Energy (ES) -1.3%, Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN) +0.5%. Over five years, American Water Works Company (AWK) compounded fastest (American Water Works Company (AWK) -2.1%/yr, Eversource Energy (ES) -3.2%/yr, Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN) -17.0%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN) has the highest dividend yield: American Water Works Company (AWK) 2.27%, Eversource Energy (ES) 4.34%, Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN) 4.98%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, American Water Works Company (AWK) has been the steadiest (American Water Works Company (AWK) 22.3%, Eversource Energy (ES) 25.0%, Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN) 25.9%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, AWK, ES and AQN?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, American Water Works Company (AWK) leads on 7. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.