AWK vs YORW vs MSEX Stock Comparison

American Water Works Company, York Water and Middlesex Water Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
YORW York Water Co
$31.07 +1.1% 1M +0.6% 1Y
Market cap
$500.49M
P/E
21.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$83.42M
Div. yield
0.03%
Water Utilities Utilities
6 wins
MSEX Middlesex Water Co
$55.35 +4.0% 1M -4.6% 1Y
Market cap
$1.08B
P/E
20.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$212.26M
Div. yield
0.02%
Water Utilities Utilities
3 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

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

QuestionAWKYORWMSEXLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $28.66B $500.49M $1.08B AWK
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 25.2x 21.0x 20.7x MSEX
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 24.9x 20.4x 22.1x YORW
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +5.4% +9.4% +8.9% YORW
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 21.3% 28.5% 24.5% YORW
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 6.0% 6.3% 6.2% YORW
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 5.5x 4.2x 4.1x MSEX
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.02% 0.03% 0.02% YORW
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +9.3% +0.6% -4.6% AWK
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -4.0%/yr -8.3%/yr -12.9%/yr AWK
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 22.4% 19.7% 29.3% YORW
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 48/100 48/100 56/100 MSEX

Percentile Scorecard

AWKYORWMSEX

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

AxisAWKYORWMSEX
Valuation 5 #64 of 67 15 #57 of 67 21 #53 of 67
Growth 47 #35 of 65 58 #28 of 65 91 #7 of 65
Profitability 90 #7 of 63 81 #13 of 63 68 #21 of 63
Financial Health 39 #38 of 62 84 #11 of 62 74 #17 of 62
Shareholder Returns 58 #29 of 67 5 #64 of 67 27 #49 of 67
Overall 48 48 56
  • AWK ranked among 67 companies in Regulated Utilities
  • YORW ranked among 67 companies in Regulated Utilities
  • MSEX ranked among 67 companies in Regulated Utilities

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodAWKYORWMSEXSPY
1 month +9.5%+1.1%+4.0% +0.7%
3 months +3.9%+0.5%-0.8% +3.7%
6 months +10.7%+7.1%+8.8% +7.1%
Year to date +8.9%-2.4%+9.8% +12.8%
1 year +9.3%+0.6%-4.6% +11.9%
3 years +21.8%-12.5%-12.4% +85.2%
3 years, per year +6.8%-4.4%-4.3% +22.8%
5 years -18.4%-35.2%-49.7% +67.6%
5 years, per year -4.0%-8.3%-12.9% +10.9%
10 years +96.0%-0.6%+55.6% +262.0%
10 years, per year +7.0%-0.1%+4.5% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureAWKYORWMSEXSPY
Volatility, 1Y 22.4%19.7%29.3% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 20.4%20.1%31.3% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.46-0.17-0.22 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.420.03-0.16 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -39.7%-41.7%-61.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -0.8%-10.2%-6.9% -1.2%
52-week high $143.25$34.58$59.47 $779.14
52-week low $121.13$29.01$48.59 $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.

MultipleAWKYORWMSEX
P/E now vs peer median 24.9xmedian 20.5x 20.7xmedian 20.5x 20.3xmedian 20.5x
P/S now vs peer median 5.3xmedian 2.9x 6.0xmedian 2.9x 5.0xmedian 2.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 15.2xmedian 13.1x 15.4xmedian 13.1x 15.2xmedian 13.1x
P/FCF now vs peer median -24.5xmedian 40.5x -34.5xmedian 40.5x -27.1xmedian 40.5x
P/B now vs peer median 2.4xmedian 1.7x 1.7xmedian 1.7x 1.9xmedian 1.7x
PEG now vs peer median 3.80median 2.14 24.25median 2.14 1.43median 2.14

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 monthsAWKYORWMSEX
Revenue $5.34B $83.42M $212.26M
Operating income $1.98B $30.50M $64.80M
Net income $1.14B $23.80M $52.01M
Free cash flow -$1.16B -$14.62M -$39.12M
EPS (diluted) $5.71 $1.50 $2.73
Cash & equivalents $121.00M $555.00K $1.70M
Total debt $16.34B $189.70M $399.63M
Shares (diluted) 199.00M 15.88M 19.03M
Enterprise value $28.11B $499.93M $1.07B

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
MetricAWKYORWMSEX
P/E 24.9x 20.7x 20.3x
P/FCF -24.5x -34.5x -27.1x
P/Operating cash flow 12.3x 15.1x 15.2x
P/S 5.3x 6.0x 5.0x
P/B 2.4x 1.7x 1.9x
P/Tangible book 2.4x 1.7x 1.9x
EV/EBITDA 15.2x 15.4x 15.2x
EV/EBIT 22.5x 22.7x 22.5x
EV/Revenue 8.3x 8.3x 6.9x
EV/FCF -38.5x -47.4x -37.2x
EV/Operating cash flow 19.4x 20.7x 21.0x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 3.80 24.25 1.43

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAWKYORWMSEX
Revenue growth (1Y) 5.4% 9.4% 8.9%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 8.9% 8.6% 8.4%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – – –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – –
Operating income growth (1Y) 5.6% 8.4% 20.7%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 10.5% 4.7% 18.3%
Net income growth (1Y) 2.2% 20.8% 20.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 7.3% 4.5% 16.5%
EPS growth (1Y) 0.1% 9.5% 15.4%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 6.6% 0.9% 14.1%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 12.9% 7.0% 6.0%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 10.8% 9.4% 6.8%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -23.5% 22.9% -25.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -13.7% 27.9% 1.8%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAWKYORWMSEX
Gross margin – – –
EBITDA margin 54.9% 53.9% 45.3%
Operating margin 37.0% 36.6% 30.5%
Pretax margin 27.0% 26.6% 27.5%
Net margin 21.3% 28.5% 24.5%
FCF margin -21.7% -17.5% -18.4%
Operating cash flow margin 43.0% 40.2% 32.7%
Return on equity 9.6% 8.9% 9.7%
Return on assets 3.1% 3.4% 3.6%
Return on invested capital 6.0% 6.3% 6.2%
Return on capital employed 6.0% 4.5% 4.9%
Asset turnover 0.1x 0.1x 0.1x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.0x 1.4x 1.3x
Stock comp / revenue – 0.2% 0.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAWKYORWMSEX
Debt / assets 43.9% 26.9% 27.4%
Debt / equity 1.4x 0.6x 0.7x
Net debt / EBITDA 5.5x 4.2x 4.1x
Debt / FCF -14.1x -13.0x -10.2x
Liabilities / assets 68.0% 58.2% 62.4%
Equity / assets 32.0% 41.8% 37.6%
Interest coverage 3.0x 3.0x 4.3x
Current ratio 0.4x 1.0x 0.5x
Quick ratio 0.3x 0.7x 0.3x
Cash ratio 0.0x 0.0x 0.0x
Altman Z-score 1.03 1.21 1.17

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAWKYORWMSEX
Dividend yield 2.4% 3.0% 2.6%
Net buyback yield – -9.8% -3.6%
Shareholder yield 2.4% -6.8% -1.0%
Payout ratio (earnings) 59.4% 54.2% 51.6%
Payout ratio (FCF) -58.3% -88.2% -68.6%
Dividend growth (1Y) 8.7% 4.3% 10.0%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 9.5% 4.3% 6.6%

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.

ConsensusAWKYORWMSEX
Forward P/E 24.9xFY2026 20.4xFY2026 22.1xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $5.72FY2026 $1.52FY2026 $2.50FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +0.5%FY2026 +9.4%FY2026 +5.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +10.8% +24.3% +3.2%
Revenue, next fiscal year $5.14BFY2026 $85.80MFY2026 $224.10MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +0.0%FY2026 +10.7%FY2026 +15.1%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +9.9% +4.2% +5.0%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAWKYORWMSEX
Held by institutions 100.0% 64.0% 83.3%
Institutions holding 1,129 165 228
Change in shares held, QoQ +8.0% +21.7% +4.4%
Institutions buying 531 100 122
Institutions selling 416 40 55
Buyers to sellers 1.28 2.50 2.22

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.

AWKYORWMSEX
AWK 1.00 0.66 0.61
YORW 0.66 1.00 0.67
MSEX 0.61 0.67 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AWK, YORW and MSEX?

American Water Works Company (AWK) is the largest by market capitalisation: American Water Works Company (AWK) $28.66B, York Water (YORW) $500.49M, Middlesex Water (MSEX) $1.08B.

Which stock is cheaper, AWK, YORW and MSEX?

Middlesex Water (MSEX) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (American Water Works Company (AWK) 25.2x, York Water (YORW) 21.0x, Middlesex Water (MSEX) 20.7x). On next year's consensus earnings, York Water (YORW) is cheapest (American Water Works Company (AWK) 24.9x, York Water (YORW) 20.4x, Middlesex Water (MSEX) 22.1x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

York Water (YORW) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: American Water Works Company (AWK) +5.4%, York Water (YORW) +9.4%, Middlesex Water (MSEX) +8.9%.

Which company is more profitable?

York Water (YORW) has the highest net margin (American Water Works Company (AWK) 21.3%, York Water (YORW) 28.5%, Middlesex Water (MSEX) 24.5%). On return on invested capital, York Water (YORW) leads (American Water Works Company (AWK) 6.0%, York Water (YORW) 6.3%, Middlesex Water (MSEX) 6.2%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year American Water Works Company (AWK) returned the most: American Water Works Company (AWK) +9.3%, York Water (YORW) +0.6%, Middlesex Water (MSEX) -4.6%. Over five years, American Water Works Company (AWK) compounded fastest (American Water Works Company (AWK) -4.0%/yr, York Water (YORW) -8.3%/yr, Middlesex Water (MSEX) -12.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

York Water (YORW) has the highest dividend yield: American Water Works Company (AWK) 0.02%, York Water (YORW) 0.03%, Middlesex Water (MSEX) 0.02%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, York Water (YORW) has been the steadiest (American Water Works Company (AWK) 22.4%, York Water (YORW) 19.7%, Middlesex Water (MSEX) 29.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, AWK, YORW and MSEX?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, York Water (YORW) 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.