Company Reports

We reaffirm our $135 fair value estimate for American Water Works after the US Environmental Protection Agency issued its final rule with limits for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, in water utility systems, including American Water's subsidiaries. We are reaffirming our narrow moat rating.

American Water Works' earnings growth is consistenly higher than most regulated electric utilities even though core retail water use has steadily fallen as a result of efficiency savings.

We are reaffirming our $142 per share fair value estimate after American Water reported full-year operating earnings of $4.90 per share, compared with $4.51 in 2022. Management increased its 2024 earnings guidance to $5.20 to $5.30 per share, up from $5.10 to $5.20, to account for higher interest income on its HOS business sale. Incorporating the gain will not have an material impact on our fair value estimate.

American Water Works' earnings growth is consistenly higher than most regulated electric utilities even though core retail water use has steadily fallen as a result of efficiency savings.

We are reaffirming our $137 per share fair value estimate after American Water reported third-quarter operating earnings of $1.66 per share, compared with $1.63 in the same year-ago period. Management reaffirmed its 2023 EPS guidance range of $4.72 to $4.82, in line with our expectations.

We are reaffirming our fair value estimates and economic moat ratings for all U.S. utilities after the sector fell nearly 5% on Monday. We think the sector's 11% drop since last week offers a rare opportunity for investors to buy high-quality utilities at very attractive prices.

American Water Works has consistently increased earnings more than most regulated electric utilities even though core retail water use has steadily fallen as a result of efficiency savings.

We are reaffirming our $136 per share fair value estimate after American Water Works reported second-quarter operating earnings of $1.44 per share compared with $1.20 in the same year-ago period. Management reaffirmed its 2023 earnings guidance of $4.72 to $4.82, in line with our expectations. Management also reaffirmed its long-term outlook for 7%-9% earnings growth and dividend growth, which we expect the company to achieve the midpoint. Our narrow moat rating remains unchanged.

American Water Works has consistently increased earnings more than most regulated electric utilities even though core retail water use has steadily fallen as a result of efficiency savings.

We are reaffirming our $134 per share fair value estimate after American Water Works reported first-quarter operating earnings of $0.91 per share, compared with $0.87 in the same year-ago period. Management reaffirmed its 2023 EPS guidance of $4.72 to $4.82 , in line with our expectations. Our narrow moat remains.

American Water Works has consistently increased earnings more than most regulated electric utilities even though core retail water use has steadily fallen as a result of efficiency savings.

We are reaffirming our $132 fair value estimate for American Water Works after the company reported full-year operating earnings per share of $4.51, up from $4.25 in 2021 and above management's 2022 EPS guidance of $4.39-$4.49.

American Water Works has consistently increased earnings more than most regulated electric utilities even though core retail water use has steadily fallen as a result of efficiency savings.

We are reaffirming our $132 per-share fair value estimate after American Water reported third-quarter operating earnings of $1.63 per share, compared with $1.53 in the same year-ago period.

Our initial analysis of the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act that President Joe Biden plans to sign on Aug. 16 has led us to reaffirm or make slight increases to our fair value estimates for U.S. utilities. We are reaffirming our moat and moat trend ratings.

American Water Works has consistently increased earnings at a low-double-digit pace, topping most regulated electric utilities even though core retail water use has steadily fallen as a result of efficiency savings.

We are reaffirming our $131 per share fair value estimate after American Water reported second-quarter operating earnings of $1.20 per share, compared with $1.14 in the same year-ago period. The company reaffirmed 2022 earnings guidance of $4.39 to $4.49 and its long-term 7%-9% growth target, both in line with our estimates. Our narrow moat and stable moat trend remain unchanged.

We are reaffirming our fair value estimates and moat ratings for our U.S. utility coverage after the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 9.1% core inflation on July 14. We continue consider inflation to be the largest threat to utilities' long-term returns and ability to pay robust, growing dividends.

We are reaffirming our fair value estimates and moat ratings for the U.S. utilities we cover after the median utility in our coverage now trades in line with our fair value estimate, after the Morningstar US Utilities Sector Index declined 12% since Wednesday, June 8.

We are reaffirming our fair value estimates and moat ratings for the U.S. utilities we cover after the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Price Index, or CPI, reported 8.6% inflation for May. We continue to consider inflation to be the largest threat to utilities' long-term returns and ability to pay robust, growing dividends.