AWK vs VLTO vs HTO Stock Comparison

American Water Works Company, Veralto and H2O America Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
VLTO Veralto Corp
$103.34 +6.4% 1M -1.3% 1Y
Market cap
$25.19B
P/E
25.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$5.70B
Div. yield
–
Water Treatment Industrials
3 wins
HTO H2O America
$58.48 -6.1% 1M +15.4% 1Y
Market cap
$2.53B
P/E
24.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$838.18M
Div. yield
0.03%
Water Utilities Utilities
5 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

H2O America leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (H2O America 5, American Water Works Company 4, Veralto 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAWKVLTOHTOLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $27.42B $25.19B $2.53B AWK
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 24.3x 25.5x 24.1x HTO
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 24.8x 22.8x 19.9x HTO
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +6.9% +6.2% +4.2% AWK
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 21.3% 17.3% 12.5% AWK
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 6.2% 17.4% 4.0% VLTO
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 5.5x 0.9x 5.0x VLTO
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.02% 0.00% 0.03% HTO
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +0.1% -1.3% +15.4% HTO
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -3.9%/yr — -3.0%/yr HTO
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 22.8% 23.5% 23.3% AWK
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 54/100 75/100 32/100 VLTO

Percentile Scorecard

AWKVLTOHTO

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

AxisAWKVLTOHTO
Valuation 8 #62 of 67 80 #5 of 21 35 #44 of 67
Growth 59 #27 of 65 72 #6 of 19 14 #56 of 65
Profitability 95 #4 of 64 100 #1 of 17 3 #62 of 64
Financial Health 49 #33 of 64 52 #11 of 22 83 #12 of 64
Shareholder Returns 58 #29 of 67 70 #4 of 11 26 #50 of 67
Overall 54 75 32
  • AWK ranked among 67 companies in Regulated Utilities
  • VLTO ranked among 22 companies in Environmental Equipment
  • HTO ranked among 67 companies in Regulated Utilities

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodAWKVLTOHTOSPY
1 month +8.2%+6.4%-6.1% -0.8%
3 months +5.3%+9.6%-7.9% +3.5%
6 months +7.4%+18.6%-1.8% +7.0%
Year to date +8.6%+3.6%+19.4% +12.2%
1 year +0.1%-1.3%+15.4% +13.0%
3 years +21.7%+52.0%-0.3% +86.3%
3 years, per year +6.8%+15.0%-0.1% +23.1%
5 years -18.2%—-14.2% +68.6%
5 years, per year -3.9%—-3.0% +11.0%
10 years +95.4%—+31.0% +258.0%
10 years, per year +6.9%—+2.7% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureAWKVLTOHTOSPY
Volatility, 1Y 22.8%23.5%23.3% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 21.2%22.4%23.5% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.460.23-0.30 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.00-0.050.66 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -39.7%-27.6%-46.8% -25.4%
From 52-week high -1.1%-1.5%-10.6% -1.8%
52-week high $143.25$104.87$65.43 $779.14
52-week low $121.13$82.23$44.44 $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.

MultipleAWKVLTOHTO
P/E now vs peer median 24.6xmedian 20.8x 25.6xmedian 25.6x 23.4xmedian 20.8x
P/S now vs peer median 5.3xmedian 2.9x 4.4xmedian 2.5x 3.4xmedian 2.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 15.2xmedian 13.1x 19.1xmedian 19.1x 14.2xmedian 13.1x
P/FCF now vs peer median -27.3xmedian 36.7x 24.1xmedian 25.2x -14.5xmedian 36.7x
P/B now vs peer median 2.4xmedian 1.7x 8.1xmedian 2.0x 1.3xmedian 1.7x
PEG now vs peer median 3.13median 2.23 5.72median 1.54 -2.86median 2.23

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 monthsAWKVLTOHTO
Revenue $5.28B $5.70B $838.18M
Gross profit – $3.43B –
Operating income $1.95B $1.30B $173.81M
Net income $1.13B $988.00M $104.87M
Free cash flow -$1.03B $1.05B -$194.42M
R&D – $276.00M –
EPS (diluted) $5.76 $4.02 $2.41
Cash & equivalents $191.00M $2.12B $572.96M
Total debt $15.99B $3.38B $2.09B
Shares (diluted) 196.00M 245.80M 43.48M
Enterprise value $26.83B $17.83B $1.68B

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
MetricAWKVLTOHTO
P/E 24.6x 25.6x 23.4x
P/FCF -27.3x 24.1x -14.5x
P/Operating cash flow 12.1x 22.9x 11.4x
P/S 5.3x 4.4x 3.4x
P/B 2.4x 8.1x 1.3x
P/Tangible book 2.4x 11.1x 1.3x
EV/EBITDA 15.2x 19.1x 14.2x
EV/EBIT 22.5x 20.5x 25.0x
EV/Revenue 8.3x 4.7x 5.2x
EV/FCF -42.7x 25.3x -22.3x
EV/Operating cash flow 18.8x 24.0x 17.5x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 3.13 5.72 -2.86

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAWKVLTOHTO
Revenue growth (1Y) 6.9% 6.2% 4.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 9.3% 4.8% 7.7%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 6.8% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 6.5% –
Operating income growth (1Y) 8.3% 3.5% -7.6%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 11.0% 3.7% 2.1%
Net income growth (1Y) 4.2% 10.6% -4.0%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 8.1% 4.4% 1.8%
EPS growth (1Y) 3.6% 12.5% -21.3%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 7.9% 4.5% -8.2%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 19.7% 9.8% 11.4%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 12.8% – 8.2%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -13.4% 11.0% 15.1%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -7.5% – -49.6%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAWKVLTOHTO
Gross margin – 60.2% –
EBITDA margin 54.6% 24.4% 36.5%
Operating margin 36.9% 22.7% 20.7%
Pretax margin 27.3% 21.2% 13.8%
Net margin 21.3% 17.3% 12.5%
FCF margin -19.5% 18.4% -23.2%
Operating cash flow margin 44.2% 19.4% 29.6%
Return on equity 9.9% 32.4% 5.2%
Return on assets 3.1% 12.2% 1.8%
Return on invested capital 6.2% 17.4% 4.0%
Return on capital employed 6.0% 21.4% 3.3%
Asset turnover 0.1x 0.7x 0.1x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.1x 1.1x 2.4x
Stock comp / revenue – 1.3% 0.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAWKVLTOHTO
Debt / assets 43.9% 39.5% 34.5%
Debt / equity 1.4x 1.1x 0.9x
Net debt / EBITDA 5.5x 0.9x 5.0x
Debt / FCF -15.5x 3.2x -10.7x
Liabilities / assets 68.0% 63.8% 63.6%
Equity / assets 32.0% 36.2% 36.4%
Interest coverage 3.0x 14.1x 2.4x
Current ratio 0.5x 1.8x 1.9x
Quick ratio 0.3x 1.5x 1.6x
Cash ratio 0.1x 1.0x 1.4x
Altman Z-score 1.06 4.52 0.89

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAWKVLTOHTO
Dividend yield 2.4% 0.5% 3.0%
Net buyback yield – 1.7% -22.4%
Shareholder yield 2.4% 2.2% -19.4%
Payout ratio (earnings) 58.3% – 64.6%
Payout ratio (FCF) -63.9% – -34.9%
Dividend growth (1Y) 8.0% – 19.1%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 9.9% – 13.2%

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.

ConsensusAWKVLTOHTO
Forward P/E 24.8xFY2026 22.8xFY2026 19.9xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $5.72FY2026 $4.54FY2026 $2.94FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +0.5%FY2026 +16.4%FY2026 -1.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +10.8% +7.9% +1.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $5.14BFY2026 $5.70BFY2026 $840.19MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +0.0%FY2026 +3.7%FY2026 +4.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +9.9% +16.5% +6.8%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAWKVLTOHTO
Held by institutions 100.0% 96.1% 100.0%
Institutions holding 1,128 974 315
Change in shares held, QoQ +8.0% +3.3% -1.5%
Institutions buying 530 399 175
Institutions selling 416 384 91
Buyers to sellers 1.27 1.04 1.92

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.

AWKVLTOHTO
AWK 1.00 0.27 0.62
VLTO 0.27 1.00 0.16
HTO 0.62 0.16 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AWK, VLTO and HTO?

American Water Works Company (AWK) is the largest by market capitalisation: American Water Works Company (AWK) $27.42B, Veralto (VLTO) $25.19B, H2O America (HTO) $2.53B.

Which stock is cheaper, AWK, VLTO and HTO?

H2O America (HTO) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (American Water Works Company (AWK) 24.3x, Veralto (VLTO) 25.5x, H2O America (HTO) 24.1x). On next year's consensus earnings, H2O America (HTO) is cheapest (American Water Works Company (AWK) 24.8x, Veralto (VLTO) 22.8x, H2O America (HTO) 19.9x). 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%, Veralto (VLTO) +6.2%, H2O America (HTO) +4.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

American Water Works Company (AWK) has the highest net margin (American Water Works Company (AWK) 21.3%, Veralto (VLTO) 17.3%, H2O America (HTO) 12.5%). On return on invested capital, Veralto (VLTO) leads (American Water Works Company (AWK) 6.2%, Veralto (VLTO) 17.4%, H2O America (HTO) 4.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year H2O America (HTO) returned the most: American Water Works Company (AWK) +0.1%, Veralto (VLTO) -1.3%, H2O America (HTO) +15.4%. Over five years, H2O America (HTO) compounded fastest (American Water Works Company (AWK) -3.9%/yr, H2O America (HTO) -3.0%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

H2O America (HTO) has the highest dividend yield: American Water Works Company (AWK) 0.02%, Veralto (VLTO) 0.00%, H2O America (HTO) 0.03%. Veralto (VLTO) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, American Water Works Company (AWK) has been the steadiest (American Water Works Company (AWK) 22.8%, Veralto (VLTO) 23.5%, H2O America (HTO) 23.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, AWK, VLTO and HTO?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, H2O America (HTO) leads on 5. 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.