AWK vs HTO vs AQN Stock Comparison

American Water Works Company, H2O America and Algonquin Power & Utilities Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
HTO H2O America
$58.90 -5.3% 1M +16.1% 1Y
Market cap
$2.44B
P/E
22.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$828.50M
Div. yield
0.03%
Water Utilities Utilities
3 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

American Water Works Company leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (American Water Works Company 6, H2O America 3, Algonquin Power & Utilities 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAWKHTOAQNLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $27.68B $2.44B $4.11B AWK
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 24.5x 22.8x 29.5x HTO
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 24.9x 20.1x 15.9x AQN
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +6.9% +5.0% +5.7% AWK
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 21.3% 12.9% 11.5% AWK
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 6.2% 4.3% 3.4% AWK
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 5.5x 5.8x 7.0x AWK
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.02% 0.03% 0.07% AQN
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +0.1% +16.1% -6.9% HTO
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -4.1%/yr -3.0%/yr -18.6%/yr HTO
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 22.9% 23.3% 25.7% AWK
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 55/100 35/100 58/100 AQN

Percentile Scorecard

AWKHTOAQN

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

AxisAWKHTOAQN
Valuation 6 #63 of 67 38 #42 of 67 79 #15 of 67
Growth 61 #26 of 65 22 #51 of 65 69 #21 of 65
Profitability 95 #4 of 65 3 #63 of 65 66 #23 of 65
Financial Health 51 #33 of 66 77 #16 of 66 39 #41 of 66
Shareholder Returns 61 #27 of 67 33 #45 of 67 38 #42 of 67
Overall 55 35 58
  • AWK ranked among 67 companies in Regulated Utilities
  • HTO 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

PeriodAWKHTOAQNSPY
1 month +7.3%-5.3%+6.5% -1.0%
3 months +6.0%-7.7%-11.3% +2.9%
6 months +7.8%-1.4%-14.8% +6.4%
Year to date +9.4%+20.2%-12.2% +11.4%
1 year +0.1%+16.1%-6.9% +13.1%
3 years +21.2%+0.9%+6.9% +79.4%
3 years, per year +6.6%+0.3%+2.3% +21.5%
5 years -18.8%-14.3%-64.3% +67.7%
5 years, per year -4.1%-3.0%-18.6% +10.9%
10 years +99.4%+33.1%-39.5% +255.2%
10 years, per year +7.1%+2.9%-4.9% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureAWKHTOAQNSPY
Volatility, 1Y 22.9%23.3%25.7% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 21.4%23.4%28.3% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.48-0.290.23 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.010.69-0.27 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -39.7%-46.8%-73.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -0.3%-10.0%-22.6% -2.5%
52-week high $143.25$65.43$6.98 $779.14
52-week low $121.13$44.44$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.

MultipleAWKHTOAQN
P/E now vs peer median 24.8xmedian 20.8x 23.0xmedian 20.8x 29.8xmedian 20.8x
P/S now vs peer median 5.4xmedian 2.8x 3.0xmedian 2.8x 3.4xmedian 2.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 15.3xmedian 13.1x 13.9xmedian 13.1x 11.4xmedian 13.1x
P/FCF now vs peer median -27.5xmedian 36.7x -10.5xmedian 36.7x 26.0xmedian 36.7x
P/B now vs peer median 2.4xmedian 1.7x 1.3xmedian 1.7x 0.8xmedian 1.7x
PEG now vs peer median 3.15median 2.27 -6.18median 2.27 0.85median 2.27

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 monthsAWKHTOAQN
Revenue $5.28B $828.50M $1.21B
Gross profit – – -$435.80M
Operating income $1.95B $177.95M $525.40M
Net income $1.13B $106.95M $167.50M
Free cash flow -$1.03B -$234.22M $159.40M
EPS (diluted) $5.76 $2.50 $0.18
Cash & equivalents $191.00M $104.10M $55.00M
Total debt $15.99B $7.54B $6.64B
Shares (diluted) 196.00M 42.87M 772.41M
Enterprise value $27.09B $2.15B $3.91B

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
MetricAWKHTOAQN
P/E 24.8x 23.0x 29.8x
P/FCF -27.5x -10.5x 26.0x
P/Operating cash flow 12.2x 10.1x 4.0x
P/S 5.4x 3.0x 3.4x
P/B 2.4x 1.3x 0.8x
P/Tangible book 2.4x 1.3x 0.8x
EV/EBITDA 15.3x 13.9x 11.4x
EV/EBIT 22.6x 23.9x 20.4x
EV/Revenue 8.4x 5.1x 8.9x
EV/FCF -42.9x -18.2x 67.3x
EV/Operating cash flow 18.9x 17.3x 10.5x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 3.15 -6.18 0.85

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAWKHTOAQN
Revenue growth (1Y) 6.9% 5.0% 5.7%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 9.3% 8.9% -5.3%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – – 5.7%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – 6.1%
Operating income growth (1Y) 8.3% -2.1% 14.0%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 11.0% 7.2% -5.8%
Net income growth (1Y) 4.2% 4.0% 112.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 8.1% 6.6% 52.3%
EPS growth (1Y) 3.6% -15.4% 153.3%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 7.9% -3.7% 35.1%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 19.7% 23.2% 6.7%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 12.8% 10.9% 11.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -13.4% -17.1% -45.1%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -7.5% -64.7% 28.6%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAWKHTOAQN
Gross margin – – -36.1%
EBITDA margin 54.6% 37.0% 77.8%
Operating margin 36.9% 21.5% 43.6%
Pretax margin 27.3% 14.3% 16.2%
Net margin 21.3% 12.9% 11.5%
FCF margin -19.5% -28.3% 13.2%
Operating cash flow margin 44.2% 29.6% 85.2%
Return on equity 9.9% 5.8% 1.5%
Return on assets 3.1% 2.0% –
Return on invested capital 6.2% 4.3% 3.4%
Return on capital employed 6.0% 3.4% –
Asset turnover 0.1x 0.2x –
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.1x 2.3x 6.1x
Stock comp / revenue – 0.8% 1.0%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAWKHTOAQN
Debt / assets 43.9% 34.8% 47.7%
Debt / equity 1.4x 1.0x 1.3x
Net debt / EBITDA 5.5x 5.8x 7.0x
Debt / FCF -15.5x -8.1x 41.6x
Liabilities / assets 68.0% 66.1% 64.3%
Equity / assets 32.0% 33.9% 35.7%
Interest coverage 3.0x 2.4x 1.9x
Current ratio 0.5x 1.7x 0.9x
Quick ratio 0.3x 1.1x 0.4x
Cash ratio 0.1x 0.6x 0.1x
Altman Z-score 1.07 0.85 0.18

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAWKHTOAQN
Dividend yield 2.4% 3.0% 5.2%
Net buyback yield – -13.3% -0.2%
Shareholder yield 2.4% -10.3% 5.0%
Payout ratio (earnings) 58.3% 60.0% 180.2%
Payout ratio (FCF) -63.9% -27.4% 189.3%
Dividend growth (1Y) 8.0% 16.4% -30.8%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 9.9% 12.2% -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.

ConsensusAWKHTOAQN
Forward P/E 24.9xFY2026 20.1xFY2026 15.9xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $5.73FY2026 $2.93FY2026 $0.34FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +0.7%FY2026 -2.0%FY2026 0.0%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +10.6% +1.0% +17.6%
Revenue, next fiscal year $5.14BFY2026 $840.19MFY2026 $2.45BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +0.0%FY2026 +4.9%FY2026 +0.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +9.9% +6.8% +14.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAWKHTOAQN
Held by institutions 100.0% 100.0% 68.7%
Institutions holding 1,128 315 241
Change in shares held, QoQ +8.0% -1.5% +2.1%
Institutions buying 530 175 129
Institutions selling 416 91 67
Buyers to sellers 1.27 1.92 1.93

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.

AWKHTOAQN
AWK 1.00 0.62 0.18
HTO 0.62 1.00 0.18
AQN 0.18 0.18 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AWK, HTO and AQN?

American Water Works Company (AWK) is the largest by market capitalisation: American Water Works Company (AWK) $27.68B, H2O America (HTO) $2.44B, Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN) $4.11B.

Which stock is cheaper, AWK, HTO and AQN?

H2O America (HTO) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (American Water Works Company (AWK) 24.5x, H2O America (HTO) 22.8x, Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN) 29.5x). On next year's consensus earnings, Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN) is cheapest (American Water Works Company (AWK) 24.9x, H2O America (HTO) 20.1x, Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN) 15.9x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

American Water Works Company (AWK) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: American Water Works Company (AWK) +6.9%, H2O America (HTO) +5.0%, 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%, H2O America (HTO) 12.9%, Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN) 11.5%). On return on invested capital, American Water Works Company (AWK) leads (American Water Works Company (AWK) 6.2%, H2O America (HTO) 4.3%, Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN) 3.4%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year H2O America (HTO) returned the most: American Water Works Company (AWK) +0.1%, H2O America (HTO) +16.1%, Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN) -6.9%. Over five years, H2O America (HTO) compounded fastest (American Water Works Company (AWK) -4.1%/yr, H2O America (HTO) -3.0%/yr, Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN) -18.6%/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) 0.02%, H2O America (HTO) 0.03%, Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN) 0.07%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, American Water Works Company (AWK) has been the steadiest (American Water Works Company (AWK) 22.9%, H2O America (HTO) 23.3%, Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN) 25.7%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, AWK, HTO 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 6. 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.