American Water Works Company Inc vs Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF — how do they compare? American Water Works Company Inc trades at $131.69 (market cap $25.69B), while Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF trades at $160.18. The key difference: American Water Works Company Inc pays a 2.72% dividend while Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF pays none, and Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF is trading nearer its 52-week high, American Water Works Company Inc nearer its low. Which is the better fit depends on your goals.
| AWK | VYM | |
|---|---|---|
Market Cap | $25.69B | — |
Sector | Utilities | — |
52-Week High | $147.00 | $161.17 |
52-Week Low | $121.13 | $132.90 |
Enterprise Value | $41.25B | — |
Dividend Yield | 2.72% | — |
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.
VYM trades at $160.86, down slightly by 0.12% today, with a bullish technical outlook supported by moving averages. The ETF maintains strong investor interest as a dividend income vehicle with $78.33 billion in assets and 618 holdings. Recent news highlights its role in retirement portfolios for tax-efficient income generation, though some articles question whether alternative funds offer better yields or performance.
The outlook remains positive for income-focused investors seeking broad diversification and low costs. Key risks include interest rate sensitivity and potential dividend sustainability during market downturns. Analyst sentiment favors VYM for long-term dividend growth despite current yield comparisons with competing ETFs.
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 →The advisor employs an indexing investment approach designed to track the performance of the index, which consists of common stocks of companies that pay dividends that generally are higher than average. The advisor attempts to replicate the target index by investing all, or substantially all, of the fund's assets in the stocks that make up the index, holding each stock in approximately the same proportion as its weighting in the index.
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