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Compare Stocks › AWK vs BAC

American Water Works Company, Inc. (AWK) vs Bank of America Corporation (BAC)

AWK
American Water Works Company, Inc.
$137.10
VS
BAC
Bank of America Corporation
$47.01

Rewards

AWK
  • ★Gross margin of 60.7% indicates strong pricing power — typical of businesses with significant intellectual property or brand strength.
  • ★Dividend yield of 2.41% with a consistent or growing payout over the past 4 years.
BAC
  • ★Each dollar of retained earnings has created $2.37 of market value — management is an exceptional capital allocator.
  • ★PEG ratio of 0.58 suggests the stock is undervalued relative to its growth rate — paying less than 1x for each unit of earnings growth.

Risks

AWK
  • ⚠Net debt/EBITDA of 5.7x indicates heavy leverage — it would take over 4 years of EBITDA to pay off net debt.
  • ⚠Altman Z-Score of 0.96 places the company in the distress zone — financial patterns resemble those of companies that experienced bankruptcy.
BAC
  • ⚠Gross margin of 0.0% is low, suggesting a competitive or commodity-like market with limited pricing power.
  • ⚠Bank of America Corporation scores only 20/100 on the Economic Moat Score, suggesting limited durable competitive advantages.
  • ⚠Altman Z-Score of 0.22 places the company in the distress zone — financial patterns resemble those of companies that experienced bankruptcy.

Key Valuation Metrics

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AWK
BAC
Valuation
$-2.34B
Free Cash Flow
N/A
-8.75%
FCF Yield
N/A
24.09
Trailing P/E
12.34
20.86
Forward P/E
9.49
Quality & Moat
4.88%
ROIC
4.61%
10.25%
ROE
N/A
60.72%
Gross Margin
0.00%
N/A
PEG Ratio
0.58
Balance Sheet Safety
1.47
Debt / Equity
N/A
N/A
Interest Coverage
N/A
5.66
Net Debt / EBITDA
N/A
2.41%
Dividend Yield
2.38%
AWK: 2Ties: 2BAC: 2
AWKBAC

Historical Fundamentals

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AWK

Price ÷ Earnings Per Share — how many years of current earnings you're paying for at today's price. Lower P/E may indicate undervaluation.

BAC

Price ÷ Earnings Per Share — how many years of current earnings you're paying for at today's price. Lower P/E may indicate undervaluation.

Price ÷ Earnings Per Share — how many years of current earnings you're paying for at today's price. Lower P/E may indicate undervaluation.

$1 Retained Earnings Test

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AWK
$-1.66
created per $1 retained over 3 years
Market Cap Declined
Σ Retained
$1.36B
Δ Market Cap
$-2.25B
Buffett's "$1 Test": For every $1 of earnings retained, has management created at least $1 of market value?
> $1 created per $1 retained = Value Creator · < $1 created = Value Destroyer
BAC
$2.37
created per $1 retained over 3 years
Exceptional Value Creator
Σ Retained
$55.63B
Δ Market Cap
+$131.83B
Buffett's "$1 Test": For every $1 of earnings retained, has management created at least $1 of market value?
> $1 created per $1 retained = Value Creator · < $1 created = Value Destroyer

Buffett's "$1 Test": For every $1 of earnings retained, has management created at least $1 of market value?
> $1 created per $1 retained = Value Creator · < $1 created = Value Destroyer

Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) Analysis

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AWK
226.4% Overvalued
Price is 226.4% above estimated fair value
Current Price: $137.10
Fair Value: $42.00
Strongly undervalued
Undervalued
Fairly valued
Overvalued
Strongly overvalued
BAC
64.3% Margin of Safety
Price is 64.3% below estimated fair value
Current Price: $47.01
Fair Value: $131.82
Strongly undervalued
Undervalued
Fairly valued
Overvalued
Strongly overvalued

Reverse DCF — Market-Implied Growth

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AWK

Requires positive FCF to compute implied growth rate.

BAC

Requires positive FCF to compute implied growth rate.

Economic Moat Score

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AWK
51/100
Narrow Moat
70+ Wide · 40-69 Narrow · <40 None

Narrow moat with margin stability as the key competitive advantage. Improving reinvestment efficiency would strengthen the moat.

Composite score measuring competitive advantage durability across four dimensions: returns above cost of capital, pricing power stability, revenue predictability, and capital efficiency. Based on 5 years of fundamental data.
BAC
20/100
No Moat
70+ Wide · 40-69 Narrow · <40 None

No durable moat detected, though revenue predictability shows some competitive positioning. The business lacks consistent evidence of sustainable advantages.

Composite score measuring competitive advantage durability across four dimensions: returns above cost of capital, pricing power stability, revenue predictability, and capital efficiency. Based on 4 years of fundamental data.

Forensic Accounting

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AWK
-2.79
Unlikely Manipulator
Above -1.78 = likely manipulator · -2.22 to -1.78 = grey zone

M-Score Trend

Beneish's 8-variable model estimates the probability of earnings manipulation. An M-Score above -1.78 signals elevated risk — companies in this range have historically been 3-5× more likely to be manipulating earnings. Scores between -2.22 and -1.78 fall in a grey zone warranting further investigation.
BAC
-2.31
Unlikely Manipulator
Above -1.78 = likely manipulator · -2.22 to -1.78 = grey zone

M-Score Trend

Beneish's 8-variable model estimates the probability of earnings manipulation. An M-Score above -1.78 signals elevated risk — companies in this range have historically been 3-5× more likely to be manipulating earnings. Scores between -2.22 and -1.78 fall in a grey zone warranting further investigation.

Beneish's 8-variable model estimates the probability of earnings manipulation. An M-Score above -1.78 signals elevated risk — companies in this range have historically been 3-5× more likely to be manipulating earnings. Scores between -2.22 and -1.78 fall in a grey zone warranting further investigation.

Ownership Breakdown

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AWK
Insiders 0.3%Institutions 99.5%Retail & Other 0.2%
No. of Institutional Holders1,636
High insider ownership aligns management incentives with shareholders — a key signal in Buffett-style analysis. Institutional concentration can indicate smart-money conviction but also crowding risk.
BAC
Insiders 7.3%Institutions 71.2%Retail & Other 21.5%
No. of Institutional Holders4,445
High insider ownership aligns management incentives with shareholders — a key signal in Buffett-style analysis. Institutional concentration can indicate smart-money conviction but also crowding risk.

High insider ownership aligns management incentives with shareholders. Institutional concentration can indicate smart-money conviction but also crowding risk.

Insider Buying Activity

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AWK
0
Buys (3M)
0
Buys (12M)
No open market insider purchases found.
Open market purchases · includes direct & indirect ownership · excludes option exercises
BAC
0
Buys (3M)
0
Buys (12M)
No open market insider purchases found.
Open market purchases · includes direct & indirect ownership · excludes option exercises

Open market purchases · includes direct & indirect ownership · excludes option exercises.

Insider Selling Activity

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AWK
0
Sells (3M)
1
Sells (12M)
Total value (12M): $404,766
WIKLE MELISSA K.
Officer
$404,766
@ $143.28 · 2025-05-30
NORTON CHERYL D.
Chief Operating Officer
$642,018
@ $138.16 · 2024-11-22
GOSS MARTHA CLARK
Director
$101,424
@ $142.85 · 2024-09-03
Direct ownership only · excludes indirect, option exercises, planned (10b5-1) sales & derivatives
BAC
5
Sells (3M)
5
Sells (12M)
Total value (12M): $20.17M
MENSAH BERNARD AMPONSAH
Officer
$4.41M
@ $46.94 · 2026-03-12
SCRIVENER THOMAS M
Officer
$2.49M
@ $49.82 · 2026-03-05
BRONSTEIN SHERI B
Officer
$2.99M
@ $49.91 · 2026-03-05
ATHANASIA DEAN C
President
$6.86M
@ $50.21 · 2026-03-03
BORTHWICK ALASTAIR M.
Chief Financial Officer
$3.42M
@ $50.24 · 2026-02-27
MENSAH BERNARD AMPONSAH
Officer
$3.66M
@ $39.80 · 2024-08-27
HANS LINDSAY D
Officer
$402,410
@ $36.91 · 2024-08-05
Direct ownership only · excludes indirect, option exercises, planned (10b5-1) sales & derivatives

Direct ownership only · excludes indirect, option exercises, planned (10b5-1) sales & derivatives.

🎭 Mr. Market's Mood

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AWK
FearGreed
😐Neutral(51/100)

"Market is pricing this stock without strong emotion in either direction"

Composite sentiment score based on 6 market signals. Inspired by Buffett's "Mr. Market" allegory — fear = potential opportunity, greed = potential risk. Must be used alongside fundamental analysis, not in isolation.
BAC
FearGreed
😐Neutral(47/100)

"Market is pricing this stock without strong emotion in either direction"

Composite sentiment score based on 6 market signals. Inspired by Buffett's "Mr. Market" allegory — fear = potential opportunity, greed = potential risk. Must be used alongside fundamental analysis, not in isolation.

Composite sentiment score based on market signals. Inspired by Buffett’s "Mr. Market" allegory — fear = potential opportunity, greed = potential risk. Must be used alongside fundamental analysis, not in isolation.

⚖️ Buffett Signal

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AWK
⚪Awaiting DCF Data

The Buffett Signal cross-references market sentiment with DCF valuation. Configure the DCF Analysis above to generate a signal.

DCF Margin of Safety: N/AMr. Market's Mood: Neutral (51)
BAC
⚪Awaiting DCF Data

The Buffett Signal cross-references market sentiment with DCF valuation. Configure the DCF Analysis above to generate a signal.

DCF Margin of Safety: N/AMr. Market's Mood: Neutral (47)
View AWK Full AnalysisView BAC Full Analysis
American Water Works Company, Inc. (AWK) vs Bank of America Corporation (BAC) Stock Comparison | SafetyMargin.io