American Water Works Company Inc vs Banco Santander SA — how do they compare? American Water Works Company Inc trades at $132.14 (market cap $25.69B), while Banco Santander SA trades at $13.69 (market cap $195.40B). The key difference: Banco Santander SA is far larger — about 7.6× 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 | SAN | |
|---|---|---|
Market Cap | $25.69B | $195.40B |
Sector | Utilities | Financials |
52-Week High | $147.00 | $14.37 |
52-Week Low | $121.13 | $8.31 |
Enterprise Value | $41.25B | — |
Dividend Yield | 2.72% | 2.04% |
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.
Banco Santander (SAN) trades at $13.66, down 1.51% on the day, with a bullish technical signal from moving averages and neutral oscillators. The company reported Q1 2026 EPS of $0.4144, beating expectations, and maintains a strong net income margin of 26.72%. Recent developments include the acquisition of TSB and AI-driven efficiency initiatives targeting over $1.15 billion in business value. The stock shows a P/E of 13.57 and P/B of 1.62, indicating reasonable valuation relative to peers.
The outlook for SAN is positive, supported by record profitability, strategic acquisitions, and cost-saving measures. However, risks include declining cash flows, regulatory scrutiny in Spain, and macroeconomic pressures on loan growth. Analyst consensus is bullish with 64% buy ratings, but investors should monitor execution on efficiency targets and integration of recent acquisitions.
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 →Santander's focus is on retail and commercial banking. Latin America is geographically the largest operation, with Brazil by far the largest. Its continental European business is still mainly Iberian. Santander's U.K. presence is the result of the acquisition of building society Abbey. In the U.S., Santander operates a vehicle finance business and a regional bank focused on the Northeastern states.
Read more on SAN →