AWK

Essential Utilities WTRG is benefiting from customer-base growth driven by organic expansion and water and wastewater acquisitions. This expansion broadens its service footprint, increases demand for essential utility services and supports infrastructure expansion across its regulated operations.The company added more than 138,000 customers or equivalent dwelling units since 2015, while pending acquisitions are expected to serve more than 200,000 additional customers. It also completed the acquisition of Integra Water Texas’ wastewater system, adding approximately 1,100 customers, while its active municipal acquisition pipeline represents about 400,000 potential customers.The company’s signed purchase agreements cover more than 200,000 customers for about $282 million.  WTRG’s customer expansion is also supported by infrastructure spending, and it plans to invest about $1.7 billion in 2026 while targeting 5-7% annual EPS growth through 2027.Overall, acquisitions and infrastructure investments are expected to support WTRG’s long-term expansion and customer growth. Growing customer numbers can benefit water utilities by increasing demand for essential services and creating opportunities to expand infrastructure. A broader customer base can also help utilities generate stable revenues while enabling continued investments in water systems, treatment facilities and network upgrades.American Water Works AWK added about 52,700 customer connections through acquisitions in the first half of 2026, supporting expansion across its regulated water footprint. California Water Service Group CWT serves about 2 million people through 497,600 California connections, while acquisitions and infrastructure investments provide additional opportunities for customer and rate-base growth. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 and 2027 EPS indicates a year-over-year increase of 0.45% and 9.73%, respectively. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research WTRG is trading at a premium to the industry, with a forward 12-month price-to-earnings ratio of 17.45 versus the industry average of 17.34X. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research In the past month, the company’s shares have risen 5.9% compared with the industry’s 0.7% growth. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research WTRG currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Essential Utilities Inc. (WTRG) : Free Stock Analysis Report American Water Works Company, Inc. (AWK) : Free Stock Analysis Report California Water Service Group (CWT) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

A month has gone by since the last earnings report for American Water Works (AWK). Shares have lost about 0.1% in that time frame, underperforming the S&P 500. But investors have to be wondering, will the recent negative trend continue leading up to its next earnings release, or is American Water Works due for a breakout? Before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late, let's take a quick look at the latest earnings report in order to get a better handle on the important catalysts. American Water Q2 Earnings Top Estimates on Rate Growth & AcquisitionsAmerican Water Works Company Inc. reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $1.61 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.59 by 1.3%. The bottom line increased 8.1% from $1.49 in the year-ago quarter. Earnings benefited from contributions coming from authorized rate increases, infrastructure investments and acquired operations. Revenues of $1.36 billion surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.28 billion by 6.2% and rose 6.2% year over year. The company added nearly 52,000 customer connections through acquisitions in the first half.Regulated Businesses generated net income of $331 million in the second quarter, up from $288 million a year earlier. Operating revenues in the segment increased $90 million year over year.The improvement primarily reflected authorized revenue increases from completed general rate cases and infrastructure proceedings. Incremental revenues from closed acquisitions also supported growth. Since the beginning of 2026, American Water has received authorization for $216 million of additional annualized revenues. Total operating expenses were $813 million, up 3.3% from $787 million in the prior-year quarter. Operation and maintenance expenses were nearly flat at $481 million compared with $480 million. General taxes rose 7% to $92 million. Despite cost pressures, operating income advanced 10.8% to $542 million as revenue growth outpaced the increase in expenses. Interest expense increased to $167 million from $151 million a year ago. The increase resulted from additional short and long-term debt used primarily to fund capital investments.Interest income declined 86.4% to $3 million from $22 million. Total other expenses, net, widened to $137 million from $113 million. Nevertheless, income before taxes rose to $405 million from $376 million, while net income attributable to common shareholders increased to $315 million from $289 million. The company invested $1.8 billion in infrastructure improvements and growth during the first six months of 2026. This included $346 million directed toward regulated acquisitions. American Water remains on track to invest approximately $3.7 billion in 2026, including acquisitions. Its long-term plan targets annual rate base growth of 8-9%, supported by infrastructure renewal, water quality projects, resiliency investments and system expansion. The company completed the acquisition of Nexus Water Group systems on June 1. The transaction added roughly 46,600 customer connections across 60 systems in eight states.Additional acquisitions completed through June 30 added 5,700 connections. American Water also had 19 acquisitions under agreement, representing about 56,600 customer connections and $236 million of investment. The acquisition pipeline exceeds 1.5 million customer connections. Cash and cash equivalents totaled $191 million as of June 30, 2026, up from $98 million at the end of 2025. Net cash provided by operating activities increased to $907 million in the first half from $632 million in the prior-year period. Long-term debt rose to $14.04 billion from $12.78 billion at year-end. During June, the company settled 3.4 million shares under forward sale agreements and received $476 million in net proceeds. American Water reaffirmed adjusted earnings guidance of $6.02-$6.12 per share for 2026. The outlook excludes merger-related transaction costs, weather impacts and certain incremental interest income. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 is currently pegged at $6.09 per share. Management also maintained its long-term earnings and dividend growth targets of 7-9%. The company expects Pennsylvania and New Jersey revenue increases to support stronger second-half results, with Pennsylvania’s newly authorized rates scheduled to take effect Aug. 13. The proposed merger with Essential Utilities continued to advance. Kentucky, Ohio and Virginia have approved the transaction, while the companies reached a settlement in principle in Texas. Regulatory reviews remain underway in several other states. American Water expects the transaction to close by the end of the first quarter of 2027, subject to the receipt of remaining approvals and satisfaction of customary closing conditions. In the past month, investors have witnessed a upward trend in fresh estimates. Currently, American Water Works has a average Growth Score of C, however its Momentum Score is doing a bit better with a B. However, the stock has a score of D on the value side, putting it in the bottom 40% for this investment strategy. Overall, the stock has an aggregate VGM Score of C. If you aren't focused on one strategy, this score is the one you should be interested in. Estimates have been trending upward for the stock, and the magnitude of this revision looks promising. Interestingly, American Water Works has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). We expect an in-line return from the stock in the next few months. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report American Water Works Company, Inc. (AWK) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

Consolidated Water Co. Ltd. CWCO reported second-quarter 2026 earnings of 25 cents per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 22 cents by 13.64%. Earnings declined 21.9% from 32 cents in the year-ago quarter. Revenues of $32.9 million missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $35 million by 6.07%. The top line also decreased 2.1% from the year-ago figure of $33.6 million. Manufacturing weakness weighed on the top line, while bulk water revenues advanced 20%. Consolidated Water Co. Ltd. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Consolidated Water Co. Ltd. Quote Retail revenues were $8.66 million, up 0.3% year over year. Water sales volume declined 2% amid slightly wetter weather in Grand Cayman, but this was offset by higher rates and increased sales volume to a major non-potable water customer.Bulk revenues increased 20.1% to $9.93 million. Growth primarily reflected higher energy-related revenues in the Bahamas and contributions from two new seawater desalination plants on Cat Island, commissioned in 2026.Manufacturing revenues plunged 48.6% to $2.69 million due to the lower dollar amount of new purchase orders.Services revenues increased 1.2% to $11.59 million. Construction revenues surged 88.9% to $5.34 million, driven by projects involving a drinking water plant expansion in Colorado and a wastewater recycling plant in California. Both projects are scheduled for completion in 2026. Gross profit declined 14.6% year over year to $10.96 million from $12.83 million in the prior-year quarter.Total general and administrative expenses decreased nearly 4.4% to $7.24 million.The company secured a 25-year exclusive concession and water utility license to produce and supply water to Seven Mile Beach and West Bay, two of Grand Cayman’s three most populated areas.The company commissioned a second seawater desalination plant on Cat Island, The Bahamas, in 2026, expanding its supply of potable water to the Water and Sewerage Corporation of The Bahamas. As of June 30, 2026, cash and cash equivalents totaled $132.6 million compared with $123.8 million as of Dec. 31, 2025.As of June 30, 2026, total debt was $0.016 million, down from $0.074 million at Dec. 31, 2025.Net cash provided by operating activities totaled $18.57 million in the first six months of 2026 compared with $20.52 million a year earlier. Capital spending on property, plant and equipment and construction in progress was $5.19 million in the first six months of 2026 compared with $4.22 million a year earlier. Consolidated Water currently has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. American Water Works Company Inc. AWK reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $1.61 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.59 by 1.3%. The bottom line increased 8.1% from $1.49 in the year-ago quarter.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 and 2027 EPS is pinned at $6.09 and $6.59, indicating year-over-year growth of 7.98% and 8.35%, respectively.American States Water Company AWR reported second-quarter 2026 earnings of $1.09 per share, up 25.3% year over year and beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 93 cents by 17.2%. Higher earnings at the water utility, driven largely by CPUC-approved rate increases, supported the gain.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 and 2027 EPS is pinned at $3.68 and $3.80, indicating year-over-year growth of 9.20% and 3.13%, respectively.California Water Service Group CWT reported second-quarter 2026 earnings of 93 cents per share, up 31% year over year. The figure beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 79 cents by 17.72%.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 and 2027 EPS is pinned at $2.55 and $2.73, indicating year-over-year growth of 18.60% and 7.06%, respectively. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Consolidated Water Co. Ltd. (CWCO) : Free Stock Analysis Report American Water Works Company, Inc. (AWK) : Free Stock Analysis Report California Water Service Group (CWT) : Free Stock Analysis Report American States Water Company (AWR) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

Image source: The Motley Fool. Thursday, July 30, 2026 at 9 a.m. ET Vice President of Investor Relations - Aaron Musgrave President and Chief Executive Officer - John C. Griffith Chief Financial Officer - David Bowler Chief Operating Officer - Cheryl D. Norton Need a quote from a Motley Fool analyst? Email [email protected] Operator: Good morning, and welcome to American Water’s Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. As a reminder, this call is being recorded and is also being webcast with the accompanying slide presentation through the company’s Investor Relations website. The audio webcast archive will be available for one year on American Water’s Investor Relations website. I would now like to introduce your host for today’s call, Aaron Musgrave, Vice President of Investor Relations. Mr. Musgrave, you may begin. Aaron Musgrave: Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us for today’s call. At the end of our prepared remarks, we will open the call for your questions. Let me first go over some safe harbor language. Today, we will be making forward-looking statements that represent our expectations regarding our future performance or other future events. These statements are predictions based on our current expectations, estimates, and assumptions. However, since these statements deal with future events, they are subject to numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from the results indicated or implied by such statements. Additional information regarding these risks, uncertainties, and factors, as well as a more detailed analysis of our financials and other important information, is provided in the second-quarter earnings release and Form 10-Q, each filed yesterday with the SEC. This call will include a discussion of non-GAAP financial information. A reconciliation of our historical adjusted earnings per share to GAAP earnings per share and other disclosures related to our non-GAAP financial information can be found in the appendix of the slides for this call. And finally, all statements during this presentation related to earnings and earnings per share refer to diluted adjusted earnings and earnings per share. With that, I will turn the call over to American Water’s President and CEO, John C. Griffith. John C. Griffith: Thanks, Aaron, and good morning, everyone. Let’s turn to Slide 5. I will start by covering some highlights of the second quarter and first half of the year. As we announced yesterday, we delivered solid financial results in the second quarter and through the first half of 2026. Adjusted earnings were $1.61 per share for the second quarter compared to $1.49 per share for the same period last year. In the first six months of 2026, adjusted earnings were $2.62 per share compared to $2.51 per share in the same period of 2025. With this strength across the business, combined with our expectations for the rest of the year, we continue to be on track to achieve our full-year earnings guidance, which we have again affirmed along with our long-term targets. David will share more about our results and guidance a bit later. I also want to acknowledge the great work of our state and corporate regulatory teams as they continue to successfully execute our regulatory strategy with rate cases and merger proceedings, which I will talk more about shortly. We have completed three rate cases already in 2026 in West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, all of which authorized recovery of nearly 100% of the capital investments we have made in each state. As we have discussed with investors many times over the years, we strategically choose to operate in a diverse set of regulatory environments that we believe have been and will remain supportive of water and wastewater utility investments and consolidation. American Water continues to receive healthy support at the state level for the work that we do. We, along with utility commissions, all share a strong desire to promote customer affordability, resilient and reliable services, and financially strong utilities. We look forward to continuing to provide common-sense solutions for the benefit of customers and communities across our 14-state footprint. Moving on to some of our other key accomplishments so far in 2026, we have invested $1.8 billion in capital projects and acquisitions year to date. This reflects our focus on making investments to better serve our customers and to grow the business. As we have said, growing to scale in our states greatly benefits our operating efficiency and long-term customer affordability. Speaking of customer growth, we were very pleased to close on the acquisition of systems from Nexus Water Group ahead of schedule on June 1. Our teams did a great job of achieving all eight requisite state approvals in a timely and constructive manner. We are also excited to continue our progress on the municipal acquisition front, with approximately 57,000 customer connections under agreement as of June 30. Overall, we are well on our way to executing our capital plan for 2026 and achieving our target of 2% customer growth. These efforts align squarely with our mission to provide safe, clean, reliable, and affordable service to our customers. Turning to Slide 6, I am pleased to share that we have continued to achieve new milestones in the second quarter related to our proposed merger with Essential Utilities. You may recall, as part of the update we provided with Q1 earnings, we achieved our first state approval, Kentucky, in April. In May and June, we added Ohio and Virginia to the list of approvals received. It is also worth noting that so far, we are hearing good support for the merger during public input hearings, including in Pennsylvania in April and May. In other states, the merger cases are proceeding as planned, including very good progress in Texas, where we have reached a settlement in principle. We remain very pleased with our integration planning to date and the constructive relationships that continue to develop between the American Water and Essential Utilities teams. Consistent with our messaging from the merger announcement last October, we expect the merger to close by the end of the first quarter of 2027. With that, I will hand it over to David to cover our financial and regulatory update in further detail. David? David Bowler: Thanks, John, and good morning, everyone. Starting on Slide 8, I will provide further insights into our financial results for the quarter. Consolidated earnings were $1.61 per share compared to $1.49 per share in Q2 of 2025, representing just over an 8% growth rate. Revenues were higher due to authorized rate increases to recover investments across our states, while depreciation, financing costs, and general taxes increased as expected. Importantly, O&M costs were flat period over period, highlighting our continued focus on cost control while supporting operational and customer needs. Slide 9 shows our financial results for the year so far. Consolidated earnings were $2.62 per share compared to $2.51 per share in 2025, which is well on track with our plans for the year. The variance drivers here are similar to the quarterly drivers, and our outlook for these categories for the year remains unchanged, as you can see from the full-year waterfall in the appendix. As a reminder, the majority of our EPS growth will occur in the second half of the year, with revenue increases in key states expected to go into effect later in Q3. Slide 10 provides a look at our balance sheet and liquidity profile. Our total debt-to-capital ratio as of June 30 was 58%. On May 20, we successfully completed a long-term debt issuance of $500 million at 4.625% that attracted strong demand. In June, we settled 3.4 million shares of our approximately 8 million share equity forwards for net proceeds of $476 million. Our financing plan for 2026 assumes we will settle the remaining equity forwards in Q4. Slide 11 covers the latest regulatory activity in our states. In Pennsylvania, we received a final order in the case that approved a $75 million annualized increase in water and wastewater revenues, compared to the filing that had requested a $160 million increase. The order also approved a return on equity of 9.55% and an equity component of 54.2%. As John mentioned, we believe this was a constructive outcome. We will implement new rates on August 13. On active cases, you can see we have general rate cases in progress in six jurisdictions. To highlight a few of those, in June, we entered into a black-box settlement with staff and several interveners in Virginia, as well as a partial settlement with the Public Advocates Office in California. In New Jersey, as outlined in the procedural schedule, the company is in confidential settlement discussions with the parties to the proceedings, and we hope to be able to announce a resolution soon. In Illinois, our case is progressing as expected, and the next milestones in the case will be evidentiary hearings in August, followed by briefings from all parties in September and then a proposed order due in October. On May 15, we filed a general rate case in Kentucky reflecting $108 million in system investments covering January 2027 through December 2027. We are seeking $18 million of additional annual revenue and would expect proposed rates to go into effect on an interim basis in December 2026. Intervenor testimony is set for August and rebuttal testimony in September. And lastly, on July 1, we filed a general rate case in Missouri reflecting $1.6 billion in system investments covering the period from June 2025 through May 2028. We are seeking $179 million of additional annual revenue, and we expect proposed rates to go into effect in June 2027. Importantly, with this case, this is the first case using the fully forecasted future test-year legislation that was passed last year. Turning to Slide 12. As John mentioned, yesterday, we affirmed our 2026 adjusted EPS guidance range of $6.02 to $6.12 per share. This represents our expectation of again delivering 8% EPS growth in 2026 while continuing to provide high-quality, affordable service to our customers. We also continue to expect to achieve EPS and dividend growth well within the 7% to 9% range through 2030 and beyond. With that, I will turn it over to Cheryl to talk more about our capital program and our recent acquisition activity. Cheryl D. Norton: Thanks, David, and good morning, everyone. Starting on Slide 14, we successfully invested in many needed capital projects across our footprint in the first half of 2026. We have deployed $1.8 billion this year to renew our infrastructure, improve resiliency, and address water quality challenges, as well as add new systems, including those acquired from Nexus Water Group. These investments are crucial for us to deliver on our core mission of consistently providing clean and reliable water and wastewater services, and we remain vigilant about utilizing our scale and expertise to control costs and keep bills affordable for our customers. We are hyper-focused on staying balanced between affordability and making necessary investments in our systems. We remain confident that American Water’s average monthly residential water bills will stay at or below 1% of median household income for many years to come. Concluding on Slide 15, we continue to be well positioned for growth through acquisitions across many states, as our track record of signing and closing deals continues in 2026. We were excited to begin serving the customers of the acquired Nexus Water systems at the beginning of June, which was a few months ahead of our initial estimated timeline. We look forward to leveraging our scale and size to deliver safe, clean, reliable, and affordable water and wastewater services to the 47,000 new customer connections and to welcoming the 70 local employees who already call these communities home. Zooming out, as of June 30, we had approximately 57,000 customer connections under agreement across six states, totaling $236 million. There are many systems across our fragmented industry that have underinvested in the necessary capital to operate their systems, and we believe we can be a solutions provider for these communities. With that, I will turn it back over to our operator to begin Q&A and take any questions you may have. Operator: Thank you. We will now begin the question-and-answer session. To ask a question, you may press star, then one on your touchtone phone. To withdraw your question, please press star, then two. And at this time, we will pause momentarily to assemble our roster. And the first question will be from Paul Zimbardo from Jefferies. Please go ahead. Paul Zimbardo: Hi. Good morning, team. David Bowler: Hi. Good morning. Paul Zimbardo: Thanks for taking the time. I promise no Pennsylvania questions for a change. Starting in Missouri, just with that forecast year, is there any way to quantify what the benefits of that kind of change would be? Or, said differently, what the rate increase would have been versus that $179 million if it was more of a historical filing? David Bowler: Paul, this is David. We have not quantified it. I mean, for practical purposes, I think one way you could do it is you could go back and look at our prior cases and what that filed increase would be. I mean, that is not a complete apples-to-apples comparison, but that could give you an idea. Paul Zimbardo: Okay. No. It looked like a decent pickup, potentially. So I was just curious there. And the other was Indiana, kind of two parts. I know there is an affordability process in the state. It seems like it is not focused on water, but I am curious about your thoughts there. And also, I know there was some legislation passed, which seemed like it could give you a little bit of incremental recovery on some chemical costs and others. Just curious about overall Indiana affordability and legislation, if you could. Thank you. David Bowler: Yeah. Paul, I would say we still feel good about Indiana. From everything we are seeing in the state, it is focused on the electric affordability story there. Our rates are very affordable in Indiana and continue to be in our forecast to be there. So we feel good. As far as the legislation, yeah, it is beneficial to us. I mean, it is not overly material from an American Water standpoint, but certainly, little wins like that help. Paul Zimbardo: Okay. Understood. No. Thank you very much, team. Operator: Thank you. And the next question will be from Shahriar Pourreza from Wells Fargo. Please go ahead. Andrew Kavadlo: Actually, it is Andrew Kavadlo on for Shar. Thanks for taking my questions. David Bowler: Good morning, Andrew. Andrew Kavadlo: Has the Pennsylvania PUC commentary on the frequency of your rate cases changed your regulatory strategy in the state? Or do you see the 25 basis points of ROE for less regulatory lag as an acceptable trade-off? David Bowler: Thanks for the question, Andrew. With regard to our strategy in Pennsylvania, our real focus and what underpins our rate cases in the state is the capital investment that we make. They are really investment-driven rate cases. As we look to recover, we can continue to do that under general rate cases. Another area that we are exploring is a broadening of our DSIC mechanism, which could be useful in a couple of ways, giving us interim recovery in between rate cases, which also has the benefit of smoothing in increases over time, which is helpful from an affordability perspective. I would say water in the state, as it relates to mechanisms, is a little bit behind electric. In other states, we have had the opportunity to update the mechanism. And certainly, from our perspective in PA, if we can get some traction in being able to do that, that could be helpful from a cadence perspective. But at the end of the day, for us, our obligation in PA, as in all of our states, is to provide good service. That requires capital. That is what drives the rate cases. And so we will look for the most constructive form of recovery. Andrew Kavadlo: Makes sense. And then staying in Pennsylvania, has the affordability noise and Shapiro’s intervention in the Peoples Gas case had any potential impact, maybe, on the approval of the Essential merger? How should we think about that? John C. Griffith: Approval for the merger is really just judged under a standard in the state. Each state has its own standard. In the case of Pennsylvania, it is substantial affirmative public benefit. That can come in a variety of ways. Certainly, affordability is a theme across the state and other states. But our job with respect to the merger is to be able to demonstrate substantial affirmative public benefit. We think that we have done that in our testimony. So we are in settlement discussions there, and so we will continue to push there. Andrew Kavadlo: Thank you. I will leave it there. Operator: Again, if you would like to ask a question, please press star, then one. Our next question is from Angie Storozynski from Seaport. Please go ahead. Agnieszka Storozynski: Thank you. I was about to ask about the DSIC. Could you maybe tell us what percentage of your CapEx currently qualifies for recovery under this rider? And what would it take to actually increase, you know, how much of the spending is recoverable? Thank you. David Bowler: Hey, Angie. Good morning. Thanks for that question. Currently, it is about 40%, give or take, depending on the year. But you can roughly think 40% of our capital in Pennsylvania falls under the DSIC mechanism. Agnieszka Storozynski: And would you need some sort of legislation to basically expand the CapEx that qualifies? David Bowler: Yes. Under the current legislation that allows DSIC, we would need to amend that to include additional capital to fall under that mechanism. John C. Griffith: And Angie, John here, just to follow on David’s response. I think there is a cap element to the DSIC, and then there is eligibility in terms of assets that is available. And so David correctly said legislation is for a wholesale change. There may be work that can be done in a regulatory pathway around the edges that could be helpful. You know, when you think about David’s 40% answer, I think the answer to that question from an electric perspective is somewhere in the neighborhood of 90%. And that is really, you know, when we look at what is eligible for us, you know, think in terms of underground piping. And that is where water, you know, when you think about treatment, think about PFAS, storage tanks, things like that, the more we can broaden eligibility, then that would be helpful. Agnieszka Storozynski: Okay. And then separately, you obviously still have the merger proceeding pending. It did not seem to have impacted the distribution rate case, which, I mean, is definitely good news. But I am just wondering, is there any chance that you could actually stay out of rate cases longer once you become a larger company? I mean, there have to be some economies of scale driven by the enlarged operations in Pennsylvania. John C. Griffith: There certainly will be economies associated with the merger over time. I will say in the near term, as we begin to go through our integration planning, you know, both companies have a—and together as one company, we will have a need, really, for the people, by and large, that we have today. Both companies individually and together still have the need to invest all of the capital that we are investing. And it is that capital investment that really drives the timing of rate cases for capital recovery. Agnieszka Storozynski: Very good. Thank you. Operator: Thank you. And ladies and gentlemen, as there are no more questions, this concludes our question-and-answer session. We thank you for attending today’s conference call. You may now disconnect your lines. Take care. Before you buy stock in American Water Works, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and American Water Works wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut are built for long-term growth and could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $397,405!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,344,091!* That performance is why people listen. With a track record of beating the S&P 500 by 4x, Stock Advisor offers a distinct advantage. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built for the long haul. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of August 7, 2026. This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. While we strive for our Foolish Best, there may be errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in this transcript. As with all our articles, The Motley Fool does not assume any responsibility for your use of this content, and we strongly encourage you to do your own research, including listening to the call yourself and reading the company's SEC filings. Please see our Terms and Conditions for additional details, including our Obligatory Capitalized Disclaimers of Liability. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. American Water Works (AWK) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript was originally published by The Motley Fool

American States Water Company AWR reported second-quarter 2026 earnings of $1.09 per share, up 25.3% year over year and beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 93 cents by 17.2%. Higher earnings at the water utility, driven largely by CPUC-approved rate increases, supported the gain. Operating revenues rose 11.2% to $181.29 million from $163.07 million. Water consumption increased about 4%, while contracted services revenues advanced 20.3%, adding to the quarter’s growth.Water segment revenues increased 9.5% year over year to $131.05 million. The increase mainly reflected second-year customer rate increases effective Jan. 1, 2026, additional revenues tied to approved capital projects and higher water consumption. Lower billed surcharges partly offset these gains.Contracted Services revenues rose 20.3% to $36.61 million, while Electric segment revenues increased 5.4% to $13.63 million. The Electric revenues were $13.6 million, up 5.4% year over year, and the surge reflects authorized 2026 rate increases and additional recovery on completed capital projects, partly offset by lower billed surcharges. American States Water Company price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | American States Water Company Quote Operating expenses increased 4.6% to $117.32 million. ASUS construction expense climbed 29.9% to $16.75 million, while depreciation and amortization rose 9.1% to $12.75 million. Administrative and general expenses declined 2.8% to $24.52 million.Operating income increased 25.5% to $63.97 million. Interest expense was $12.17 million, up 0.5%, while other income, net, increased 41.8% to $5.07 million. Net income rose 28.4% to $43.27 million. Cash provided by operating activities totaled $116.6 million in the first six months of 2026, compared with $109.6 million a year earlier. The improvement reflected new regulated utility rates, various surcharges, about $4 million of proceeds from PFAS contamination litigation and working-capital timing.The regulated utilities invested $91.7 million in company-funded capital work year to date. American States Water expects regulated utility capital expenditures of $185-$220 million in 2026. Cash and cash equivalents stood at $21.66 million at June 30, up from $18.82 million at year-end 2025. Golden State Water filed its 2028-2030 general rate case on July 1, seeking nearly $1 billion of capital budgets for the three-year cycle. It also requested reinstatement of the WRAM and MCBA regulatory mechanisms. A decision is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2027, with new rates targeted for Jan. 1, 2028.Bear Valley Electric filed its 2027-2030 rate case in January. The application seeks about $133 million of capital budgets, plus roughly $17 million, along with allowance for funds used during construction, for projects to be recovered through advice letters. It also requests an 11.30% return on equity. The board approved an 8.2% increase in the third-quarter dividend to 54.55 cents per share from 50.40 cents. This increase marks the 72nd consecutive calendar year in which AWR has raised annual dividends to its shareholders.AWR also completed its at-the-market equity offering program in June after reaching the $200 million maximum aggregate offering capacity. The company said no further shares will be sold under that program and it has no plans to issue additional equity through at least the end of 2029 to support current operations. American States Water’s capital expenditures for 2026 are expected to be $185-$220 million.Contracted Services (“ASUS”) is projected to contribute 63-67 cents per share in 2026. American States Water currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. American Water Works Company Inc. AWK reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $1.61 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.59 by 1.3%. The bottom line increased 8.1% from $1.49 in the year-ago quarter.Revenues of $1.36 billion surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.28 billion by 6.2% and rose 6.2% year over year. The company added nearly 52,000 customer connections through acquisitions in the first half.California Water Service Group CWT reported second-quarter 2026 earnings of 93 cents per share, up 31% year over year. The figure beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 79 cents per share by 17.72%.Quarterly revenues rose 16.5% to $308.6 million and surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $277 million by 11.41%. Results benefited from regulatory catch-up revenues, rate changes and higher customer consumption, while infrastructure investment reached a record $147 million.Essential Utilities Inc. WTRG reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of 38 cents per share, in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate and reflecting no surprise. Quarterly revenues of $530.9 million rose 3.1% year over year and beat the consensus estimate of $502 million by 5.76%. Regulatory recoveries and purchased gas costs supported the top line, while regulated water revenues advanced 7.6%. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report American States Water Company (AWR) : Free Stock Analysis Report American Water Works Company, Inc. (AWK) : Free Stock Analysis Report California Water Service Group (CWT) : Free Stock Analysis Report Essential Utilities Inc. (WTRG) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

Power supplier The Southern Company SO reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $1.13 per share, up 22.8% from 92 cents a year earlier. The figure beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.01 per share by 11.88%, supported by customer usage and growth, utility investment, equity-method earnings and lower income taxes. Operating revenues edged up 0.1% year over year to $6.98 billion but missed the consensus mark of $7.36 billion by 5.18%. Data center usage jumped 55% as large-load customers continued to ramp demand. Southern Company (The) price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Southern Company (The) Quote Weather-normal retail electricity sales increased 2.3% year over year in the first half of 2026, marking the strongest growth through June in nearly two decades. Commercial sales rose 7.4% in the quarter, while industrial volumes were flat after weather adjustment. Residential sales declined 0.7% on a weather-normal basis in the quarter, though Southern added about 11,000 electric residential customers. Net electric customer additions exceeded 40,000 over the past year, helping offset softer household usage. Retail electric fuel revenues fell $76 million year over year to $1.06 billion, while non-fuel retail electric revenues increased $63 million to $3.68 billion. Wholesale electric revenues advanced $18 million to $699 million and other electric revenues rose $22 million to $242 million. Natural gas revenues declined $13 million to $966 million, while other revenues decreased $10 million to $325 million. The mixed revenue performance left total operating revenues nearly unchanged from the prior-year quarter. Total operating expenses declined $8 million to $5.20 billion. Fuel and purchased-power costs fell $34 million and the cost of natural gas dropped $78 million. These benefits were partly offset by a $111 million increase in depreciation and amortization and a $20 million rise in non-fuel operations and maintenance expenses. Operating income increased $12 million to $1.78 billion. Allowance for equity funds used during construction rose $48 million, while earnings from equity-method investments increased $76 million. Income tax expense declined $102 million, helping lift net income attributable to Southern Company to $1.17 billion from $880 million. Southern added about 6 gigawatts of large-load contracts since its first-quarter call, bringing total contracted demand to 17 gigawatts across 31 projects. Another 8 gigawatts were in late-stage or finalizing phases, including 3 gigawatts expected to be completed in the near term. Data center system load exceeded 1.2 gigawatts, up more than 500 megawatts from a year earlier. The company’s prospective large-load pipeline remained above 75 gigawatts, while more than 12 gigawatts of contracted projects had begun construction. The company has 10 gigawatts of state-regulated, company-owned generation resources under construction, including thermal, battery storage and solar capacity. Active requests for proposals in Alabama and Georgia are intended to address additional needs in the early 2030s, though potential investments from those processes are not included in the current capital plan. Southern sourced $700 million of additional equity through at-the-market forward contracts during the quarter. This reduced its remaining projected equity need through 2030 to $1.1 billion, while management continued to target funds from operations to debt of about 17% by 2029. This Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company now expects full-year 2026 adjusted earnings to be near or at the top of its $4.50-$4.60 per share guided range. Adjusted earnings for the first half reached $2.46 per share, compared with $2.15 in the prior-year period. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. For the third quarter, Southern projects adjusted earnings of $1.65 per share. Management expects customer growth, rising electricity sales and continued execution across regulated utilities and Southern Power to support performance in the second half. While we have discussed Southern’s second-quarter results in detail, let’s see how some other utilities have fared this earnings season. Exelon Corporation EXC posted second-quarter 2026 adjusted operating earnings of 43 cents per share, in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Earnings increased 10.3% from 39 cents in the year-ago quarter. Higher distribution and transmission rates across several utilities supported the improvement. Revenues totaled $5.97 billion, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $5.66 billion by 5.46%. Exelon generated $3.67 billion in operating cash flow during the first six months of 2026, up from $2.71 billion in the year-ago period. As of June 30, 2026, long-term debt was $50.31 billion compared with $47.41 billion as of Dec. 31, 2025. American Water Works Company Inc. AWK posted second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $1.61 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.59 by 1.3%. The bottom line increased 8.1% from $1.49 in the year-ago quarter. Earnings benefited from contributions coming from authorized rate increases, infrastructure investments and acquired operations. Revenues of $1.36 billion surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.28 billion by 6.2% and rose 6.2% year over year. Cash and cash equivalents totaled $191 million as of June 30, 2026, up from $98 million at the end of 2025. American Water reaffirmed adjusted earnings guidance of $6.02-$6.12 per share for 2026.  Management also maintained its long-term earnings and dividend growth targets of 7-9%. IDACORP, Inc. IDA reported second-quarter 2026 earnings of $1.79 per share, which topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.75 by 2.3%. The company’s earnings also improved 1.7% from $1.76 in the year-ago quarter. The year-over-year improvement was due to customer growth, rate changes and revenues from large contract customers. Total revenues in the second quarter of 2026 were $469.8 million, lagging the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $478 million by 1.8%. The long-term debt was $3.68 billion as of June 30, 2026, compared with $3.33 billion as of Dec. 31, 2025. IDACORP raised the lower end of its 2026 earnings guidance to $6.30-$6.45 per share from the previous range of $6.25-$6.45. IDA projects a capital expenditure of $1.3-$1.5 billion for 2026. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Southern Company (The) (SO) : Free Stock Analysis Report Exelon Corporation (EXC) : Free Stock Analysis Report IDACORP, Inc. (IDA) : Free Stock Analysis Report American Water Works Company, Inc. (AWK) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

Essential Utilities Inc. WTRG reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of 38 cents per share, in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate and reflecting no surprise. GAAP earnings were 37 cents per share, down 2.6% from 38 cents a year ago, as merger-related costs weighed on results. Quarterly revenues of $530.9 million rose 3.1% year over year and beat the consensus estimate of $502 million by 5.76%. Regulatory recoveries and purchased gas costs supported the top line, while regulated water revenues advanced 7.6%. Regulated water segment revenues totaled $357.5 million, up from $332.3 million in the second quarter of 2025. Regulatory recoveries and increased volume were the largest contributors to the growth.Regulated natural gas revenues declined to $169.3 million from $177.3 million a year ago. Higher rates and surcharges provided support, but lower purchased gas costs and reduced volumes due to warmer weather pressured the segment. Essential Utilities Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Essential Utilities Inc. Quote Operations and maintenance expenses increased 3.5% year over year to $153.6 million in the second quarter of 2026 from $148.5 million a year earlier. The rise was mainly caused by higher employee-related costs, including annual merit increases and increased medical claims, along with higher water and wastewater production expenses. Operating income reached $193.3 million, up 4.3% from $185.3 million a year earlier. Net income, however, declined 1.9% to $105.7 million from $107.8 million, reflecting higher interest expense and other cost pressures. Essential invested $662.2 million in regulated water and natural gas infrastructure during the first six months of 2026. The company remains on track to invest $1.7 billion in infrastructure for the full year.Rate awards and infrastructure surcharges secured so far in 2026 are expected to increase annual water revenues by $43.9 million and natural gas revenues by $12.7 million. Pending water and wastewater cases seek $79.7 million in incremental annual revenues, while a Pennsylvania natural gas case requests a $163.2 million increase. As of June 30, 2026, net property, plant and equipment totaled $14.75 billion, up from $14.26 billion at the end of 2025. Long-term debt, excluding the current portion, increased to $8.42 billion from $8.11 billion.The company had $960 million available under its credit lines, while the weighted average cost of fixed-rate long-term debt was 4.16%. Essential also raised its quarterly dividend 5.25% to 36.06 cents per share, payable on Sept. 1, 2026, to shareholders of record as of Aug. 11. The company reaffirmed its expectation for adjusted earnings growth of 5% to 7% annually from adjusted 2024 earnings of $1.97 per share through 2027. Its guidance continues to incorporate signed municipal water and wastewater acquisitions, excluding the pending DELCORA transaction. The Zacks Consensus Estimate is currently pegged at $2.21 per share.Essential also continues to expect its merger with American Water to close in the first quarter of 2027. The transaction has received regulatory approvals in Kentucky, Ohio and Virginia, while shareholders of both companies approved the merger-related proposals in February 2026. Essential currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. American Water Works Company Inc. AWK reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $1.61 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.59 by 1.3%. The bottom line increased 8.1% from $1.49 in the year-ago quarter.Revenues of $1.36 billion surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.28 billion by 6.2% and rose 6.2% year over year. The company added nearly 52,000 customer connections through acquisitions in the first half.California Water Service Group CWT reported second-quarter 2026 earnings of 93 cents per share, up 31% year over year. The figure beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 79 cents per share by 17.72%.Quarterly revenues rose 16.5% to $308.6 million and surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $277 million by 11.41%. Results benefited from regulatory catch-up revenues, rate changes and higher customer consumption, while infrastructure investment reached a record $147 million. American States Water AWR is slated to report second-quarter 2026 results on Aug. 5, after market close. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AWR’s second-quarter EPS is pegged at 93 cents, implying an increase of 6.9% from the prior-year figure. The company has a dividend yield of 2.29%. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Essential Utilities Inc. (WTRG) : Free Stock Analysis Report American Water Works Company, Inc. (AWK) : Free Stock Analysis Report California Water Service Group (CWT) : Free Stock Analysis Report American States Water Company (AWR) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

Interested in American Water Works Company, Inc.? Here are five stocks we like better. American Water reported stronger Q2 earnings, with adjusted EPS rising to $1.61 from $1.49 year over year, and reaffirmed its 2026 adjusted EPS guidance of $6.02–$6.12, implying approximately 8% growth. Growth is being supported by authorized rate increases, infrastructure investment and acquisitions, including the Nexus Water Group transaction; the company invested $1.8 billion in the first half of 2026 and had 57,000 additional customer connections under agreement. Regulatory activity remains central to the outlook: American Water advanced rate cases across several states and received further approvals for its proposed Essential Utilities merger, which it still expects to complete by the end of Q1 2027. Water Infrastructure: Why This Boring Sector Could Get Exciting American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) reported higher second-quarter earnings and reaffirmed its full-year outlook, citing rate increases, cost controls, infrastructure investment and continued acquisition activity. Adjusted earnings were $1.61 per share in the second quarter of 2026, up from $1.49 per share a year earlier. For the first six months of the year, adjusted earnings were $2.62 per share, compared with $2.51 per share in the first half of 2025. → Why SK hynix Could Be the Best AI Chip Stock to Buy Now 3 American Outperformers Are Lifting and Initiating Dividends President and CEO John Griffith said the company remains on track to meet its 2026 earnings guidance and long-term growth objectives. American Water again affirmed adjusted EPS guidance of $6.02 to $6.12 for 2026, which it said represents an expectation of approximately 8% earnings-per-share growth. The company also maintained its expectation for EPS and dividend growth within a 7% to 9% range through 2030 and beyond. Executive Vice President and CFO David Bowler said second-quarter revenue rose as authorized rate increases took effect across the company’s state operations. Depreciation, financing costs and general taxes also increased as expected, while operation and maintenance expenses were flat from the prior-year quarter. → Microsoft Just Flipped the AI Spending Narrative Overnight Beat the Volatility: Top 3 Low-Beta Stocks to Watch Bowler said most of American Water’s EPS growth is expected in the second half of 2026, as revenue increases in key states are expected to take effect later in the third quarter. As of June 30, the company’s total debt-to-capital ratio was 58%. American Water completed a $500 million long-term debt issuance on May 20 at a 4.625% rate. In June, it settled 3.4 million shares of approximately 8 million shares under equity forward agreements, generating net proceeds of $476 million. The company expects to settle its remaining equity forwards in the fourth quarter. → Carrier Earnings Could Send the Stock to a New All-Time High Griffith said American Water completed rate cases in West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania during 2026, with the proceedings authorizing recovery of nearly all capital investments made in those states. In Pennsylvania, the company received a final order approving a $75 million annualized increase in water and wastewater revenue, compared with its requested $160 million increase. The order authorized a 9.55% return on equity and a 54.2% equity component. New rates are scheduled to take effect Aug. 13. The company has general rate cases underway in six jurisdictions. It reached a black-box settlement with staff and several intervenors in Virginia in June, along with a partial settlement with California’s Public Advocates Office. American Water said it was in confidential settlement discussions in New Jersey, while its Illinois case is scheduled for evidentiary hearings in August, briefing in September and a proposed order in October. American Water also filed rate cases in Kentucky and Missouri. The Kentucky filing seeks $18 million in additional annual revenue and reflects $108 million in planned system investments from January through December 2027. The Missouri filing seeks $179 million in additional annual revenue and reflects $1.6 billion in system investments from June 2025 through May 2028. Bowler said the Missouri proceeding is the company’s first using the state’s fully forecasted future test-year legislation enacted last year. During the question-and-answer session, Griffith said capital investment is the main driver of the company’s rate-case timing in Pennsylvania. He said the company is exploring a broader distribution system improvement charge mechanism that could provide interim recovery between rate cases and help smooth customer bill increases. Bowler said roughly 40% of the company’s Pennsylvania capital spending currently falls under the DSIC mechanism, and broader eligibility would require legislative changes. American Water invested $1.8 billion in capital projects and acquisitions during the first half of 2026. Chief Operating Officer Cheryl Norton said the spending supported infrastructure renewal, resilience, water-quality work and newly acquired systems. The company completed its acquisition of systems from Nexus Water Group on June 1, ahead of its original projected timetable. The transaction added 47,000 customer connections and 70 local employees. As of June 30, American Water had approximately 57,000 customer connections under agreement across six states, representing $236 million. Norton said the company remains focused on balancing investment needs with customer affordability and expects its average monthly residential water bills to remain at or below 1% of median household income for many years. American Water also reported additional regulatory progress on its proposed merger with Essential Utilities. After receiving approval in Kentucky in April, the company said it received approvals in Ohio and Virginia during May and June. Griffith said merger proceedings in other states were continuing as planned, including progress in Texas, where the company reached a settlement in principle. He said public input hearings in Pennsylvania had shown support for the transaction and that integration planning with Essential Utilities was continuing. The company continues to expect the merger to close by the end of the first quarter of 2027. American Water Works Company, Inc (NYSE: AWK) is a publicly traded utility company that provides water and wastewater services in the United States. Its core business is the operation, management and maintenance of regulated water and wastewater systems that deliver potable water, collect and treat wastewater, and provide related customer services to residential, commercial and industrial customers as well as municipalities. The company's operations include water treatment and distribution, wastewater collection and treatment, meter reading and billing, emergency repairs, and long-term infrastructure planning and capital project execution. In addition to its regulated utility operations, American Water offers complementary nonregulated services and solutions that support system reliability and customer needs. This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected]. The article "American Water Works Q2 Earnings Call Highlights" was originally published by MarketBeat. View MarketBeat's top stocks for August 2026.

American Water Works Company Inc. AWK reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $1.61 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.59 by 1.3%. The bottom line increased 8.1% from $1.49 in the year-ago quarter.Earnings benefited from contributions coming from authorized rate increases, infrastructure investments and acquired operations. Revenues of $1.36 billion surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.28 billion by 6.2% and rose 6.2% year over year. The company added nearly 52,000 customer connections through acquisitions in the first half.Regulated Businesses generated net income of $331 million in the second quarter, up from $288 million a year earlier. Operating revenues in the segment increased $90 million year over year.The improvement primarily reflected authorized revenue increases from completed general rate cases and infrastructure proceedings. Incremental revenues from closed acquisitions also supported growth. Since the beginning of 2026, American Water has received authorization for $216 million of additional annualized revenues. American Water Works Company, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | American Water Works Company, Inc. Quote Total operating expenses were $813 million, up 3.3% from $787 million in the prior-year quarter. Operation and maintenance expenses were nearly flat at $481 million compared with $480 million.General taxes rose 7% to $92 million. Despite cost pressures, operating income advanced 10.8% to $542 million as revenue growth outpaced the increase in expenses. Interest expense increased to $167 million from $151 million a year ago. The increase resulted from additional short and long-term debt used primarily to fund capital investments.Interest income declined 86.4% to $3 million from $22 million. Total other expenses, net, widened to $137 million from $113 million. Nevertheless, income before taxes rose to $405 million from $376 million, while net income attributable to common shareholders increased to $315 million from $289 million. The company invested $1.8 billion in infrastructure improvements and growth during the first six months of 2026. This included $346 million directed toward regulated acquisitions.American Water remains on track to invest approximately $3.7 billion in 2026, including acquisitions. Its long-term plan targets annual rate base growth of 8-9%, supported by infrastructure renewal, water quality projects, resiliency investments and system expansion. The company completed the acquisition of Nexus Water Group systems on June 1. The transaction added roughly 46,600 customer connections across 60 systems in eight states.Additional acquisitions completed through June 30 added 5,700 connections. American Water also had 19 acquisitions under agreement, representing about 56,600 customer connections and $236 million of investment. The acquisition pipeline exceeds 1.5 million customer connections. Cash and cash equivalents totaled $191 million as of June 30, 2026, up from $98 million at the end of 2025. Net cash provided by operating activities increased to $907 million in the first half from $632 million in the prior-year period.Long-term debt rose to $14.04 billion from $12.78 billion at year-end. During June, the company settled 3.4 million shares under forward sale agreements and received $476 million in net proceeds. American Water reaffirmed adjusted earnings guidance of $6.02-$6.12 per share for 2026. The outlook excludes merger-related transaction costs, weather impacts and certain incremental interest income. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 is currently pegged at $6.09 per share.Management also maintained its long-term earnings and dividend growth targets of 7-9%. The company expects Pennsylvania and New Jersey revenue increases to support stronger second-half results, with Pennsylvania’s newly authorized rates scheduled to take effect Aug. 13. The proposed merger with Essential Utilities continued to advance. Kentucky, Ohio and Virginia have approved the transaction, while the companies reached a settlement in principle in Texas.Regulatory reviews remain underway in several other states. American Water expects the transaction to close by the end of the first quarter of 2027, subject to the receipt of remaining approvals and satisfaction of customary closing conditions. American Water currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. American States Water AWR is slated to report second-quarter 2026 results on Aug 5, after market close. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AWR’s second-quarter EPS is pegged at 93 cents, implying an increase of 6.9% from the prior-year figure. The company has a dividend yield of 2.29%.Essential Utilities Inc. WTRG is scheduled to report its second-quarter 2026 results on Aug 4, after the market opens. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for WTRG’s second-quarter EPS is pegged at 38 cents, on par with the prior-year figure. The company has a dividend yield of 3.37%.Consolidated Water Co. Ltd CWCO is set to report its second-quarter 2026 results on Aug 11. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CWCO’s first-quarter EPS is pegged at 22 cents, implying a decrease of 31.25% from the prior-year figure. The company has a dividend yield of 1.9%. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report American Water Works Company, Inc. (AWK) : Free Stock Analysis Report American States Water Company (AWR) : Free Stock Analysis Report Consolidated Water Co. Ltd. (CWCO) : Free Stock Analysis Report Essential Utilities Inc. (WTRG) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Adjusted Earnings Per Share (Q2 2026): $1.61, compared to $1.49 in Q2 2025. Adjusted Earnings Per Share (First Half 2026): $2.62, compared to $2.51 in the first half of 2025. Revenue Drivers: Higher due to authorized rate increases to recover investments across states. O&M Costs: Flat period over period, reflecting cost control. Capital Investments (Year-to-Date): $1.8 billion in capital projects and acquisitions. Customer Growth (Acquisitions): Approximately 57,000 customer connections under agreement as of June 30. Long-Term Debt Issuance: $500 million at 4.625% completed on May 20. Equity Forward Settlement: 3.4 million shares settled in June for net proceeds of $476 million. Pennsylvania Rate Case: Final order approved a $75 million annualized increase in water and wastewater revenues. Kentucky Rate Case Filing: Seeking $18 million of additional annual revenue. Missouri Rate Case Filing: Seeking $179 million of additional annual revenue. 2026 Adjusted EPS Guidance: Affirmed range of $6.02 to $6.12 per share. Long-Term Growth Target: Expects consistent EPS and dividend growth within the 7% to 9% range through 2030 and beyond. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 3 Warning Signs with AWK. Is AWK fairly valued? Test your thesis with our free DCF calculator. Release Date: July 30, 2026 For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript. Adjusted EPS grew 8% year-over-year in Q2 2026, reaching $1.61 per share. Successfully closed the Nexus Water Group acquisition ahead of schedule, adding 47,000 customer connections. Completed three rate cases in 2026 (West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania) with nearly 100% capital investment recovery. O&M costs remained flat year-over-year, demonstrating effective cost control. Affirmed 2026 adjusted EPS guidance of $6.02-$6.12 and long-term 7%-9% EPS and dividend growth target through 2030. Pennsylvania rate case final order approved only $75 million of the requested $160 million annualized revenue increase. Total debt to capital ratio stood at 58% as of June 30, 2026, indicating elevated leverage. Merger with Essential Utilities remains pending, with closing expected by end of Q1 2027, creating regulatory uncertainty. Only about 40% of Pennsylvania capital expenditures qualify for recovery under the current DSIC mechanism, limiting interim recovery. Depreciation, financing costs, and general taxes increased as expected, pressuring net income growth. Q: Has the Pennsylvania PUC commentary on the frequency of your rate cases changed your regulatory strategy in the state? Or do you see the 25 basis points of ROE for less regulatory lag as an acceptable trade-off?A: John Griffith (President and CEO): Our real focus and what underpins our rate cases in the state is the capital investment we make; they are investment-driven. We are also exploring a broadening of our DSEC mechanism, which could provide interim recovery between rate cases and smooth increases over time, which is helpful for affordability. At the end of the day, our obligation is to provide good service that requires capital, and we will look for the most constructive form of recovery. Q: Could you tell us what percentage of your CapEx currently qualifies for recovery under the DSIC rider in Pennsylvania, and what would it take to increase that?A: David Bowler (CFO): Currently, it's about 40% of our capital in PA that falls under the DSIC mechanism. John Griffith (CEO): To add, legislation is required for a wholesale change, but there may be regulatory pathways around the edges. From an electric perspective, that number is around 90%. For us, broadening eligibility beyond underground piping to include treatment, PFAS, and storage tanks would be helpful. Q: In Missouri, with the new forecasted test year legislation, is there any way to quantify the benefits of that change, or what the rate increase would have been versus the $179 million if it was a historical filing?A: David Bowler (CFO): We have not quantified it. One way to get an idea would be to look back at our prior cases and what that filed increase would be, though it's not a complete apples-to-apples comparison. Q: Regarding Indiana, there is an affordability process in the state and some recent legislation. Could you share your thoughts on the impact?A: David Bowler (CFO): We still feel good about Indiana. The affordability focus is on electric, and our water rates are very affordable and are forecasted to remain so. The legislation is beneficial to us, though not overly material from an American Water standpointit's a little win that helps. Q: Has the affordability noise and Governor Shapiro's intervention in the People's Gas case had any potential impact on the approval of the Essential Utilities merger in Pennsylvania?A: John Griffith (CEO): The approval standard in Pennsylvania is a substantial affirmative public benefit. Affordability is a theme, but our job is to demonstrate that benefit, which we believe we have in our testimony. We are in settlement discussions and will continue to push forward. Q: Is there any chance you could stay out of rate cases longer once you become a larger company after the merger, given economies of scale?A: John Griffith (CEO): There will be economies over time, but in the near term, both companies together will still need the people we have today. The need to invest capital remains, and that capital investment is what drives the timing of rate cases for recovery. Q: What were the key drivers for the solid financial results in the second quarter of 2026?A: David Bowler (CFO): Revenues were higher due to authorized rate increases to recover investments. O&M costs were flat period over period, highlighting our continued focus on cost control. Depreciation, financing costs, and general taxes increased as expected. Q: Can you provide an update on the progress of the proposed merger with Essential Utilities and the expected closing timeline?A: John Griffith (CEO): We achieved state approvals in Kentucky, Ohio, and Virginia. We are hearing good support during public input hearings, including in Pennsylvania. We have reached a settlement in principle in Texas. We remain on track for the merger to close by the end of the first quarter of 2027. For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.

Our analysts just identified a stock with the potential to be the next Nvidia. Tell us how you invest and we'll show you why it's our #1 pick. Tap here. Performance was driven by authorized rate increases across multiple states to recover capital investments, while maintaining flat O&M costs through scale-driven efficiencies. Management attributes the 8% EPS growth to successful regulatory execution, including three completed rate cases in West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania that authorized nearly 100% recovery of invested capital. The company successfully closed the Nexus Water Group acquisition ahead of schedule, adding 47,000 customer connections by navigating eight state approval processes simultaneously. Strategic positioning focuses on operating in diverse, supportive regulatory environments that prioritize customer affordability alongside the need for resilient infrastructure. The proposed merger with Essential Utilities is progressing with approvals already secured in Kentucky, Ohio, and Virginia, supported by positive public input hearings in Pennsylvania. Management emphasizes that growing to scale within existing states is the primary lever for improving long-term customer affordability and operating efficiency. Management affirmed full-year 2026 adjusted EPS guidance of $6.02 to $6.12, with the majority of growth expected in the second half of the year as new rates take effect. The company maintains a long-term target of 7% to 9% EPS and dividend growth through 2030, underpinned by a robust capital investment pipeline. The merger with Essential Utilities is on track to close by the end of the first quarter of 2027, with Integration planning is progressing with constructive relationships between the American Water and Essential Utilities teams, with both companies currently needing their existing workforce to support ongoing capital investments. Future revenue growth is tied to a 2% annual customer growth target and the execution of general rate cases currently active in six jurisdictions. Financing plans for the remainder of 2026 assume the settlement of remaining equity forwards in the fourth quarter to support the $1.8 billion year-to-date capital deployment. The Missouri rate case filed in July represents the first application of new legislation allowing for a fully forecasted future test year through May 2028. In Pennsylvania, the final rate order approved a 9.55% ROE and a 54.2% equity component, which management characterized as a constructive outcome despite being lower than the initial request. Management highlighted a commitment to keeping average monthly residential water bills at or below 1% of median household income to mitigate affordability risks. The company is exploring legislative and regulatory pathways to broaden the Distribution System Improvement Charge (DSIC) mechanism to include a wider range of capital assets beyond underground piping. One stock. Nvidia-level potential. 30M+ investors trust Moby to find it first. Get the pick. Tap here. Management declined to provide a specific dollar quantification of the benefit compared to historical filings but suggested looking at prior case deltas as a proxy. The new legislation is expected to reduce regulatory lag by allowing for more forward-looking investment recovery. Current DSIC eligibility covers approximately 40% of capital spending, primarily focused on underground piping. Management is interested in amending legislation to include treatment plants, PFAS mitigation, and storage tanks, noting that electric utilities often have 90% eligibility for similar mechanisms. Expanding the DSIC would allow for interim recovery between rate cases and help smooth out rate increases for customers. Management stated that merger approval is judged on 'substantial affirmative public benefit' rather than being directly tied to unrelated utility affordability interventions. While the merger will create economies of scale over time, near-term rate case frequency will still be driven by the continuous need for infrastructure capital investment.