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STOCK COMPARISON

American Water Works vs United Utilities Group: Fair Value & Quality

Both stocks run through our valuation models. Here is how American Water Works (AWK) and United Utilities Group (UU) compare, as of Sep 5, 2026.

As of Sep 5, 2026, Fair Value Calculator sees United Utilities Group as the less overvalued of the two: American Water Works trades at $141 versus a fair value of $65.80 (-53%), while United Utilities Group trades at £13.62 versus £8.80 (-35%).
American Water Works
AWK · USD · Utilities
-53%
upside to fair value
overvalued
Price$141
Fair Value$65.80
Quality41/100
United Utilities Group
UU.LSE · GBX · Utilities
-35%
upside to fair value
overvalued
Price£13.62
Fair Value£8.80
Quality54/100
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Head-to-head numbers

Green value = the better side for that row (for valuation multiples: lower = cheaper).

American Water WorksUnited Utilities Group
Valuation
22.9×P/E (TTM)16.1×
5.04×P/S (TTM)5.31×
2.42×P/B6.20×
13.7×EV/EBITDA14.6×
2.51×PEG1.06×
−53.3%Fair value upside−35.4%
2.3%Dividend yield3.9%
$3.31Dividend per share£0.54
Profitability
33%Operating margin41%
1.11×EBIT margin trend (5Y)1.17×
10%Return on equity28%
4%Return on assets4%
Growth
6%Revenue growth (YoY)23%
10.7%Avg. growth/yr (3Y)12.8%
6.4%Avg. growth/yr (5Y)7.7%
+11.3%Value creation/yr+19.8%
Balance & size
3.1×Interest coverage (EBIT/interest)2.6×
1.18×Debt / equity5.01×
$26BMarket cap$14B
mixedGrowth qualityexpensive

United Utilities Group leads: 6 to 9 metric wins.

Dash = not meaningfully computable, for example with negative equity.

Quality in detail

The quality score, broken down into the same factor families as on the stock page, 0 to 100 per family.

American Water Worksof which business quality 38 · market factors 63 United Utilities Groupof which business quality 48 · market factors 69
ProfitabilityMargins and returns on capital today
36
46
Quality GrowthAre margins and returns improving?
33
63
CashflowEarnings quality: real cash, not paper profit
48
51
Fin. StrengthBalance sheet, leverage, solvency risk
18
11
InvestmentDisciplined investing over empire-building
31
54
Low VolatilityCalm price path (market factor)
88
88
MomentumPrice trend over the last 3–12 months (market factor)
48
56
52W MomentumDistance to the 52-week high (market factor)
60
70
Net IssuanceBuybacks instead of dilution
70
82

What the models say

How far the median fair value (base case) per model family sits from the current price, in percent. The amount in the currency of the trading venue is shown underneath.

above the price, more than 15% above close to the price, 85% to 115% of the price below the price, more than 15% below

Model familyAmerican Water WorksPrice $141United Utilities GroupPrice £13.62
Earnings-Based-78%below the price$30.84-82%below the price£2.51
Dividend Discount-61%below the price$54.41-52%below the price£6.57
Multiples-44%below the price$78.34-35%below the price£8.80
Asset-Based-74%below the price$37.18-85%below the price£2.02
Economic Profit-72%below the price$39.66-75%below the price£3.40
Growth Earnings-37%below the price$88.71-17%below the price£11.34
Minimum-78%below the price$30.84-85%below the price£2.02
Maximum-37%below the price$88.71-17%below the price£11.34
Median-67%below the price$47.03-63%below the price£4.98
Geometric mean-64%below the price$50.80-65%below the price£4.74

Minimum, maximum, median and geometric mean refer to the family values in this table. Geometric because deviations are ratios: half the price and twice the price average to 100%, not 125%.

American Water Works: 16 of 16 models see the stock below the current price.

United Utilities Group: 13 of 14 models see the stock below the current price.

Scenario ranges

From our cautious bear case to the optimistic bull case. The white tick is the current price: left of fair value means room to run.

American Water Works
Bear $49.35Fair Value $65.80Bull $99.51
$141 = current price (white tick)
United Utilities Group
Bear £4.52Fair Value £8.80Bull £13.72
£13.62 = current price (white tick)

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Ranked within their sector

Where each stock sits within its sector peer group. Band = middle 50% of peers, tick = median, dot = this stock.

American Water Works · Utilities

Quality score41 · below median
Fair value upside-53% · bottom 25%

United Utilities Group · Utilities

Quality score54 · above median
Fair value upside-35% · below median

Bottom line

As of Sep 5, 2026, Fair Value Calculator sees United Utilities Group as the less overvalued of the two: American Water Works trades at $141 versus a fair value of $65.80 (-53%), while United Utilities Group trades at £13.62 versus £8.80 (-35%).

United Utilities Group has the higher quality score (54/100).

See the full analysis →

More comparisons

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A model-based valuation snapshot from 26 models. Values change with price and fundamentals; the date shown above applies.