American Water Works Company, Inc. (AWK)

American Water Works Company, Inc. is the largest and most geographically diverse publicly traded water and wastewater utility company in the United States, measured by operating revenues and population served. Its history dates to 1886, and it is a holding company originally incorporated in Delaware in 1936 and headquartered in Camden, New Jersey. It employs approximately 7,000 professionals who provide drinking water, wastewater and related services to approximately 14 million people in 24 states. On October 26, 2025, it agreed to a stock-for-stock merger with Essential Utilities, Inc., under which Essential shareholders would receive 0.305 shares of American Water common stock per Essential share. The company expects the merger to close by the end of the first quarter of 2027, subject to customary conditions.

Most of the business is conducted through regulated utilities, presented as a single reportable segment, the Regulated Businesses. These utilities own the assets used to store, pump, treat and deliver water and to collect, treat, transport and recycle wastewater. They generated $4,723 million of operating revenues in 2025, or 92% of the company total. Water services made up $4,233 million of that, wastewater $422 million and other revenues $68 million. Other businesses, reported together as "Other," provide water and wastewater services to the U.S. government on military installations and to municipalities. The top five states by revenue are Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Missouri, Illinois and California, which together account for about 79% of Regulated Businesses revenue.

The regulated utilities operate in 14 states and serve about 3.6 million active customers, 91% water and 9% wastewater, or roughly 13 million people. Residential customers are the largest group, at 54% of 2025 regulated revenue. The company also serves commercial, industrial, fire service and public authority customers, as well as other utilities and community water systems under bulk contracts. Growth comes from acquiring water and wastewater systems, population growth in service areas and sales to other utilities. The company notes that about 84% of the U.S. water market is served by municipal systems, and about 98% of wastewater systems are government owned. This gives it a pool of potential acquisitions, and it plans to expand in its existing markets and possibly in new states.

Operationally, water comes from surface water (70% of Regulated Businesses supply), groundwater (23%) and purchased water (7%). The company generally does not own the water, which is allocated to it through contracts, permits and water rights. Its utilities are regulated by state public utility commissions, which approve rates through rate cases and related mechanisms, and by federal, state and local environmental, health and safety, and water quality rules. The company plans to invest $46 billion to $48 billion over the next 10 years in infrastructure, mainly pipe replacement and upgrades to treatment facilities. It also supports the Monterey Peninsula Water Supply Project in California, which includes a desalination plant.