Verdict: Side-by-side breakdown using the Bull Rankings model. MWH scored 72.0, AWR scored 63.0 — MWH leads.
Compare another set
MWH
SOLV Energy, Inc.
Utilities - Renewable · Quality-Growth
72
$26.21 · $5.3B
fundamentals as of
Score gap
9.0
MWH leads
AWR
American States Water Company
Utilities - Regulated Water · Quality-Growth
63
$82.26 · $3.3B
fundamentals as of
At a glance · who leads each dimension, on the model's own rules
CheapestAWR22.5x
Fastest growthMWH+34.8%
Strongest balance sheetMWH0.10
Highest qualityMWH74 / 100
Largest discount to fair valueMWH-23%
Side by side · every name on one set of axes
Growth against the P/E multiple. Up and to the right is cheaper and faster — the quality-growth idea in one picture. Points beyond the axis are pinned to the edge and marked off-scale rather than allowed to compress everything else.
The model, pillar by pillar (0–100 each)
MWH
stronger →← stronger
AWR
74
Qualityreturns · margins · balance sheet
64
95
Growthrevenue & earnings expansion
60
75
Valuevaluation vs sector peers
65
MWH is stronger on 3 of 3 pillars.
Fundamentals, head-to-head
MWH
AWR
$295mC
FCF
$21mC-
+34.8%A
Rev
+10.5%B
0.10A
D/E
0.82A-
55.8xD
P/E
22.5xC
1.65C+
PEG
2.98C
Winner per row is the stronger grade; where grades tie, the better figure breaks it. A true tie or a missing value shows no highlight.
Valuation · DCF cross-check
MWH
AWR
23% below
Price vs fair valuelower is cheaper
597% above
~9%/yr
Growth the price impliesyr-1 FCF growth, fading to 4% · lower = less priced in
~54%/yr
-1%
1-yr DCF upside
-86%
+29%
5-yr DCF upside
-86%
+90%
10-yr DCF upside
-86%
The DCF is a cross-check on intrinsic value, separate from the quality-growth score above.
Model signals
MWH
Why this score
Short track record
AWR
Why this score
Raising its dividend
Diluting shareholders
The companies
MWHSOLV Energy, Inc.
Utilities - Renewable · $26.21
Why now
Utilities - Renewable · market cap $5.3b. Down 46% from 52-week high of $48.40 — deep drawdown territory. Revenue growing +35% — in hypergrowth territory. 11 sell-side analysts rate this a Strong Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $43.73 (implying +67% upside).
Moat
Free cash flow runs well ahead of reported net income, mostly because of depreciation and amortization ($96m) — non-cash charges that hold down reported earnings while cash generation stays strong.
Risk
Trailing P/E 55.8x prices in sustained high growth — any quarter that disappoints triggers sharp re-rating. Down 46% from the 52-week high — the market is pricing in something the screen can't see; verify the bear case before sizing up. Net margin 3.8% is thin — operating leverage cuts both ways; input-cost inflation or pricing pressure hits the bottom line first.
AWRAmerican States Water Company
Utilities - Regulated Water · $82.26 · beta 0.55
Why now
Utilities - Regulated Water · market cap $3.3b. 10% off the 52-week high of $91.72. Revenue growing +11%, comfortably above the S&P median.
Moat
Net margin 21% sits well above the S&P median (~11%) — suggests structural pricing advantage or cost discipline competitors can't quickly close. ROE 14% meets the long-run market sustainable threshold — solid but not differentiated; the durability comes from elsewhere.
Risk
Mature compounder — the risk is paying up for quality at a moment when growth is decelerating. Watch for sequential revenue + margin trends; the inflection from "compounder" to "ex-compounder" is hard to spot until the multiple already started compressing.
Verdict — model-derived comparison
Generating verdict… typically 5–10 seconds
Not investment advice. The Bull Rankings publishes a quantitative ranking model and accompanying analysis for general informational purposes only. Nothing on this page is a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security; nothing is personalized to your circumstances, risk tolerance, or tax situation. Investing carries the risk of loss — invest at your own risk and consider consulting a licensed financial professional before acting on anything you read here. See terms and methodology for full disclosures.
Where MWH and AWR diverge
On the headline score the gap is 9.0 points in favor of MWH. The widest single difference is Growth, where MWH leads by 35.4 points.
GrowthMWH 95.4 · AWR 60.0MWH +35.4
QualityMWH 74.2 · AWR 63.9MWH +10.3
ValueMWH 74.9 · AWR 65.2MWH +9.7
Pillars run 0–100. Value is judged against each company's own sector, so a Value score is a statement about a company relative to its own industry rather than to the other name here. A wide Value gap usually means the market already prices the difference in quality or growth — which is the trade-off this comparison comes down to.
Common questions
Is MWH or AWR the better stock?
MWH scores higher: MWH 72.0, AWR 63.0 out of 100 on the Bull Rankings quality-growth score, which blends business quality, growth and valuation into one number. A higher score means a stronger business at a more reasonable price — it is not a price target or a recommendation.
Where do MWH and AWR differ most?
The widest gap is growth, where MWH leads by 35 points on the 0–100 pillar scale. MWH leads all three pillars, so the gap is broad rather than a single-measure difference.
How are MWH and AWR scored?
Each carries the same 0–100 quality-growth score used everywhere on the site, built from three pillars — quality (profitability and returns on capital), growth (revenue and earnings), and value (what you pay for them) — combined as a geometric mean, so a weak pillar cannot be papered over by a strong one.
How current is this comparison?
The whole universe is re-scored every trading day after the US market close, so the scores and fundamentals here reflect the latest published edition.