American Water Works Company Inc vs General Dynamics Corporation — how do they compare? American Water Works Company Inc trades at $131.69 (market cap $25.69B), while General Dynamics Corporation trades at $370.25 (market cap $99.92B). The key difference: General Dynamics Corporation is far larger — about 3.9× American Water Works Company Inc's market cap, and American Water Works Company Inc pays the higher dividend (2.72%). Which is the better fit depends on your goals.
| AWK | GD | |
|---|---|---|
Market Cap | $25.69B | $99.92B |
Sector | Utilities | Industrials |
52-Week High | $147.00 | $376.88 |
52-Week Low | $121.13 | $297.05 |
Enterprise Value | $41.25B | $106.10B |
Dividend Yield | 2.72% | 1.72% |
Signals from Pluang's Aura AI — not financial advice
American Water Works (AWK) trades at $131.53, up 0.64% with a bullish technical signal and strong fundamentals. The stock shows consistent revenue growth from $3.8B in 2022 to $5.14B in 2025, maintaining net margins above 21%. Recent earnings show mixed results with a Q3 2025 beat but Q1 2026 miss, while the company continues infrastructure investments and community initiatives.
AWK presents a stable utility investment with moderate upside to the $137 consensus target. Key risks include regulatory approvals for rate increases and high capital expenditures. Analyst sentiment is balanced with 47% buy ratings, though recent earnings misses warrant caution ahead of Q2 2026 results on July 29, 2026.
General Dynamics (GD) trades at $372.78, down 0.61% on the day, with a bullish technical signal supported by moving averages. The company reported strong Q1 2026 earnings, beating estimates with EPS of $4.10 versus $3.67 expected, and maintains solid fundamentals including 8.07% net income margin and 17.97% ROE. Revenue growth continues, reaching $52.55 billion in 2025, with a robust backlog of $130.8 billion highlighting strong demand in naval and defense sectors.
Outlook remains positive driven by defense spending tailwinds and submarine contract momentum, though valuation multiples like P/E of 23.46 suggest limited upside near-term. Risks include execution on large contracts and geopolitical volatility. Analyst consensus is bullish with a $395.83 price target, indicating ~6% potential appreciation from current levels.
Trailing returns across standard periods
Latest headlines on both assets
American Water Works is the largest investor-owned U.S. water and wastewater utility, serving approximately 3.5 million customers in 16 states. It provides water and wastewater services to residential, commercial, and industrial customers and operates predominantly in regulated markets. The company's only nonregulated business is water services for military bases, which operates under long-term contracts.
Read more on AWK →General Dynamics is a defense contractor and business jet manufacturer. The firm's segments include aerospace, combat systems, marine, and technologies. The company's aerospace segment creates Gulfstream business jets. Combat system produces land-based combat vehicles, such as the M1 Abrams tank. The marine subsegment creates nuclear-powered submarines, among other things. The technologies segment contains two main units, an IT business that primarily serves the government market and a mission systems business that focuses on products that provide command, control, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities to the military.
Read more on GD →