AWK vs. TLN: American Water Works vs. Talen Energy Stock Comparison

Company Profile

American Water Works (AWK) and Talen Energy (TLN) both fall under the Utilities industry group, but AWK is classified in Water Utilities while TLN is classified in Independent Power and Renewable Electricity Producers.

Price Performance

Cumulative Growth

Trailing Returns

Calendar-Year Returns

Performance Metrics

Risk Profile

Drawdown History

Return Distribution

Risk Metrics

Talen Energy (TLN) has an aggressive beta of 1.53, indicating higher sensitivity to broad-market moves, while American Water Works (AWK) is defensive at 0.54 and tends to be less market-sensitive — they sit on opposite ends of the beta spectrum.

Risk-Adjusted Performance

Risk-Return Positioning

Risk-Adjusted Metrics

Profitability

Talen Energy (TLN) reports a negative ROE of -16.54%; negative ROE can reflect losses or negative shareholders’ equity, so it is harder to read as capital efficiency. Meanwhile American Water Works (AWK) reports 9.95%, ranking against industry peers normally.

Talen Energy (TLN) reports a negative net margin of -5.67%, usually indicating a net loss over the period. Meanwhile American Water Works (AWK) reports 21.26%, ranking against industry peers normally.

American Water Works (AWK) at 43.18% operates in the top operating margin quartile, ahead of Talen Energy (TLN) at 17.35%, which runs around its industry’s norm.

Profitability Metrics

Growth

Talen Energy (TLN) at 26.68% sits in the top revenue growth quartile, while American Water Works (AWK) at 9.74% is closer to the peer norm — faster top-line expansion for TLN.

American Water Works (AWK) at 5.57% is around its peer norm for EPS growth, while Talen Energy (TLN) at -127.11% falls below its industry range, a notably weak earnings reading.

Growth Metrics

Financial Strength

Talen Energy (TLN) at 0.89 keeps current ratio within its industry’s typical mid-range, while American Water Works (AWK) at 0.39 runs in the tighter-liquidity quartile — a thinner cushion against current liabilities for AWK.

American Water Works (AWK) at 1.38 is near its industry mid-range for debt-to-equity ratio, while Talen Energy (TLN) at 5.97 sits above its benchmark range, pointing to a heavier debt load relative to equity.

Financial Strength Metrics

Dividends

Talen Energy (TLN) pays no dividend (yield 0.00%) — it may be reinvesting, using buybacks, or simply not returning cash through dividends. Meanwhile American Water Works (AWK) reports a yield of 2.26%, ranking against industry peers normally.

Talen Energy (TLN) pays no dividend (payout 0.00%) — it may be reinvesting, using buybacks, or simply not returning cash through dividends. Meanwhile American Water Works (AWK) reports a payout of 59.60%, ranking against industry peers normally.

Dividend Metrics

Valuation

An earnings multiple is available for just one side: American Water Works (AWK) trades at 26.00 times trailing earnings, ranked against its peers, while Talen Energy (TLN) has no P/E ratio this period.

Talen Energy (TLN) at 3.29 is priced about in line with its industry on P/S ratio, while American Water Works (AWK) at 5.60 sits in the pricier quartile — AWK costs more per dollar of sales.

Both look rich against book: American Water Works (AWK) at 2.51 sits in the upper P/B ratio quartile, and Talen Energy (TLN) at 10.14 prices even higher, above its industry range.

Valuation Metrics