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3 Water Utilities Stocks Outperform Industry in 3 Months: Time to Buy?
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The stocks belonging to the Zacks Utility - Water Supply industry continued to provide 24/7 services to millions of customers across the United States. The utility players undertook infrastructure upgrade and maintenance work to enhance the reliability of their services.
Courtesy of their robust performances, water utilities like American Water Works Company (AWK - Free Report) , American States Water Company (AWR - Free Report) and SJW Group (SJW - Free Report) have outperformed the industry in the past three months.
The U.S. water infrastructure, which includes more than 2.2 million miles of pipelines, is aging and needs major repair and maintenance to provide proper services. Per the findings of the American Society of Civil Engineers, water main breaks occur in the United States as nearly 20% of the installed water mains in this country and Canada are beyond their useful lives. Due to the water main break, billions of gallons of potable water get wasted, increasing the cost of water services. The same also exposes potable water delivery to the possibility of contamination.
Per the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, an estimated $896-billion investment is necessary to sustain and expand drinking water and wastewater services to meet demand over the next 20 years.
The regulated water industry is highly fragmented, creating operational challenges in meeting the funding requirements for upgrades and maintenance work as small service providers might not have the required financial strength to sponsor costly infrastructure upgrades. Large water utilities are quite active in making acquisitions to extend operations and essentially invest in enhancing the acquired properties.
This capital-intensive industry requires constant investment to renovate and preserve the weathered water and wastewater infrastructure. The Federal Reserve has not raised the interest rates after July 2023 and has shown intention to cut rates in the remaining part of this year. If the rate cuts are implemented this year, it will help the utility providers procure funds at a cheaper rate for their infrastructure projects or inorganic activities.
These companies make regular dividend payments to their shareholders. We added some more criteria for the selection of utilities from our proprietary Zacks Stock Screener.
American Water Works: The Camden, NJ-based company, along with its subsidiaries, provides water and wastewater services to millions of Americans. The company continues to expand operations through acquisitions and organic means. American Water Works plans to invest $3.1 billion in 2024 to strengthen and expand its existing infrastructure. AWK aims to invest $16-17 billion in 2024-2028.
Three-Month Return = 12.6% Dividend Yield = 2.13% Average Earnings Surprise (Last Four Quarters) = 1.11% Estimate Movement = The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2024 earnings has moved 0.4% north to $5.26 in the past 60 days.
American States Water: The San Dimas, CA-based company, along with its subsidiaries, provides water, wastewater and electric services to its customers. AWR provides long-term water and wastewater services to military bases and continues to pursue new long-term contracts from more military bases. It aims to invest $573.1 million in 2025-2027.
Three-Month Return = 15.4% Dividend Yield = 2.30% Average Earnings Surprise (Last Four Quarters) = 3.43% Estimate Movement = The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2024 earnings has moved 0.7% north to $3.03 in the past 60 days.
SJW Group: The San Jose, CA-based company, along with its subsidiaries, provides water services to its customers in the United States. The company looks for water and wastewater system acquisitions that will continue to support its growth potential. SJW Group plans to invest $540 million in water and wastewater infrastructure in the next three years, subject to approvals, to provide safe and reliable services to its customers.
Three-Month Return = 13.1% Dividend Yield = 2.72% Average Earnings Surprise (Last Four Quarters) = 9.3% Estimate Movement = The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2024 earnings has moved 0.4% north to $2.76 in the past 60 days.
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3 Water Utilities Stocks Outperform Industry in 3 Months: Time to Buy?
The stocks belonging to the Zacks Utility - Water Supply industry continued to provide 24/7 services to millions of customers across the United States. The utility players undertook infrastructure upgrade and maintenance work to enhance the reliability of their services.
Courtesy of their robust performances, water utilities like American Water Works Company (AWK - Free Report) , American States Water Company (AWR - Free Report) and SJW Group (SJW - Free Report) have outperformed the industry in the past three months.
The U.S. water infrastructure, which includes more than 2.2 million miles of pipelines, is aging and needs major repair and maintenance to provide proper services. Per the findings of the American Society of Civil Engineers, water main breaks occur in the United States as nearly 20% of the installed water mains in this country and Canada are beyond their useful lives. Due to the water main break, billions of gallons of potable water get wasted, increasing the cost of water services. The same also exposes potable water delivery to the possibility of contamination.
Per the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, an estimated $896-billion investment is necessary to sustain and expand drinking water and wastewater services to meet demand over the next 20 years.
The regulated water industry is highly fragmented, creating operational challenges in meeting the funding requirements for upgrades and maintenance work as small service providers might not have the required financial strength to sponsor costly infrastructure upgrades. Large water utilities are quite active in making acquisitions to extend operations and essentially invest in enhancing the acquired properties.
This capital-intensive industry requires constant investment to renovate and preserve the weathered water and wastewater infrastructure. The Federal Reserve has not raised the interest rates after July 2023 and has shown intention to cut rates in the remaining part of this year. If the rate cuts are implemented this year, it will help the utility providers procure funds at a cheaper rate for their infrastructure projects or inorganic activities.
3 Water Utility Stocks to Consider
We picked three stocks that returned more than the industry’s 12.4% growth in the last three months. These three companies carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Price Performance (Three months)
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
These companies make regular dividend payments to their shareholders. We added some more criteria for the selection of utilities from our proprietary Zacks Stock Screener.
American Water Works: The Camden, NJ-based company, along with its subsidiaries, provides water and wastewater services to millions of Americans. The company continues to expand operations through acquisitions and organic means. American Water Works plans to invest $3.1 billion in 2024 to strengthen and expand its existing infrastructure. AWK aims to invest $16-17 billion in 2024-2028.
Three-Month Return = 12.6%
Dividend Yield = 2.13%
Average Earnings Surprise (Last Four Quarters) = 1.11%
Estimate Movement = The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2024 earnings has moved 0.4% north to $5.26 in the past 60 days.
American States Water: The San Dimas, CA-based company, along with its subsidiaries, provides water, wastewater and electric services to its customers. AWR provides long-term water and wastewater services to military bases and continues to pursue new long-term contracts from more military bases. It aims to invest $573.1 million in 2025-2027.
Three-Month Return = 15.4%
Dividend Yield = 2.30%
Average Earnings Surprise (Last Four Quarters) = 3.43%
Estimate Movement = The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2024 earnings has moved 0.7% north to $3.03 in the past 60 days.
SJW Group: The San Jose, CA-based company, along with its subsidiaries, provides water services to its customers in the United States. The company looks for water and wastewater system acquisitions that will continue to support its growth potential. SJW Group plans to invest $540 million in water and wastewater infrastructure in the next three years, subject to approvals, to provide safe and reliable services to its customers.
Three-Month Return = 13.1%
Dividend Yield = 2.72%
Average Earnings Surprise (Last Four Quarters) = 9.3%
Estimate Movement = The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2024 earnings has moved 0.4% north to $2.76 in the past 60 days.