At a market cap of $14.6 billion, American Water Works (NYSE: AWK) is the largest publicly traded water utility. The water stock pays a respectable dividend yielding 2% and has rewarded buy-and-hold investors with consistent returns in the last decade.
Investors may have also noticed that American Water Works plans to significantly step up its investment in water infrastructure in the coming years, and may spend as much as $40 billion in the next 25 years. How can it commit such enormous sums of money to capital expenditures?