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Monthly Dividend Stock In Focus: Global Water Resources


Updated on April 1st, 2026 by Nathan Parsh

Utilities are very popular among income investors. Their steady revenue and earnings provide a stable base from which the companies can pay excess capital to shareholders. This tends to lead to reasonably high dividend yields and safe payouts, both of which are attractive for investors seeking current income.

Global Water Resources (GWRS) is an Arizona water utility that went public in 2016. Its 4% dividend yield qualifies it as a decent income stock when the broader S&P 500 Index yields only 1.2%. In addition, Global Water pays its dividends monthly instead of quarterly.

Global Water Resources is one of only 117 monthly dividend stocks we cover. You can download our full list of monthly dividend stocks (along with price-to-earnings ratios, dividend yields, and payout ratios) by clicking on the link below:

 

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Despite the low current yield, the stock has multiple appealing features. Given the favorable underlying economics of the water industry, Global Water’s outlook for growth is positive.

However, the company’s dividend safety could use improvement. Given this, we are cautious about Global Water’s overall prospects as an investment.

Business Overview

Global Water Resources is a water resource management company. It owns, operates, and manages water, wastewater, and recycled water utilities in Phoenix, Arizona. The company’s strategy is called total water management, which means it wants to own the entire water cycle.

In essence, this means operating water, wastewater, and recycling facilities in the same geographic area to conserve water and maximize the economic value of water by owning the entire life cycle. The company focuses on communities where it expects population growth and where it expects water demand to exceed supply.

Global Water owns 32 water and wastewater utilities in Phoenix and serves more than 121,000 people in 40,000 homes. It also recycles more than 1 billion gallons of water every year. The company believes it has the capacity for hundreds of thousands of service connections, but its current scale is relatively small.

The company’s annual revenue is about $56 million, and its stock has a market capitalization of ~$221 million.


Source: Investor relations

On March 4th, 2026, Global Water announced its full year results for the period ending December 31st, 2025. Revenue grew by nearly 6% year-over-year to $55.8 million. This increase was largely the results  of the company acquiring seven water systems from Tucson Water, organic growth in active water and wastewater connections, and increased consumption. Also aiding results were higher rates implemented for GW-Saguaro and GW-Farmers following their recent rate cases.

Water consumption increased 5.9% year-over-year to 4.28 billion gallons, supported by new connections and higher usage. Active service connections grew 6.3% year-over-year to 68,577.

EPS came in at $0.11, down from $0.24 last year. We expect that Global Water will produce earnings-per-share of $0.14 in 2026. However, the company is making capital-intensive investments into its infrastructure so EPS is expected to expand considerably when investments slow down. This leads to our earnings power estimate of $0.33 for the year.

Global Water continues to benefit from Arizona’s rapidly growing homeownership market, driving consistent organic growth. The company is also pursuing acquisitions and expects further growth in connections and rates.

Growth Prospects

The strategy behind Global Water’s asset base makes sense; areas with population growth and relatively scarce water supplies should see ever-rising demand for water. Global Water is well-positioned to grow in such areas.

The utility has many tailwinds, including considerable growth in its recycled water deliveries, massive rate increases, and solid population growth in Phoenix.

Its regulated annual revenues have been growing consistently over the years. During the last decade, the company has grown its revenues at a 7.6% average annual rate. Water is an essential commodity, so its consumption is resilient even under the most adverse economic conditions. As a result, Global Water’s revenues should remain resilient during a potential recession, as was the case during the Great Recession.

Source: Investor relations

We expect organic growth contributions from rate increases, which amounts to another low single-digit gain annually, on average. Like other utilities, Global Water is able to pass through approved pricing increases to its customers, which is a steady, long-term tailwind to revenue.

Overall, thanks to material rate hikes and Global Water’s sustained expansion, we expect the utility to grow its earnings per share at an average annual rate of 6.0% over the next five years.

Dividend & Valuation Analysis

Water stocks are prized for their stable dividends and consistent dividend growth. Global Water has paid a monthly dividend since May of 2016, with a handful of monthly raises from the initial two cents per share. These small increases over time have led to a dividend growth streak of 10 years.

The current payout is $0.0253 per share monthly or $0.30 per share annually, and it was not affected by the worst of the coronavirus crisis.

This results in a current yield of 3.9%, which is on the lower side for a utility stock. In addition, we are concerned about the dividend’s safety, as Global Water’s earnings haven’t covered the dividend in recent years.

Earnings per share for 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025  came in at just $0.16, $0.24, $0.33, $0.24, and $0.11, respectively, whereas the annual dividends were $0.29, $0.30, $0.30, $0.30, and $0.30 in those years. In other words, Global Water paid out much higher dividends than its earnings during that period. This means the company has a significant shortfall and must fund the payout through other means, including debt and share issuances.

Another feature of Global Water is its dividend growth rate. The company has grown its dividend at a rate of just 1.7% over the last 10 years, which is much lower than the utility sector’s five-year median dividend growth rate of 5.43%.

We expect Global Water’s earnings power to be $0.33 in 2026. In such a case, the payout ratio would be below 100%. Thanks to its regulated business and the reliable cash flows resulting from its business model, Global Water can easily borrow funds to support its future dividend. Nevertheless, given the recent years of maintaining a payout ratio well above 100%, the dividend should not be considered entirely safe in the long run.

Shares of Global Water are trading at 23.3x our earnings power estimate for the year, which is above our target price-to-earnings ratio of 18.0. Reaching our valuation target by 2031 could reduce annual returns by 5% over this period.

This headwind will be offset by the 3.9% dividend yield and our expected growth rate of 6%. We predict total returns of 4.5% through 2031.

Final Thoughts

We think Global Water has a positive road ahead regarding earnings growth. Given the multiple sources of organic growth, the company is on a reliable revenue growth trajectory.

The dividend yield is solid at 3.9% and the company has increased its distributions at a steady, if unspectacular, rate over the last decade. But with shares trading above our fair value target, we maintain our hold rating on Global Water.

Don’t miss the resources below for more monthly dividend stock investing research.

And see the resources below for more compelling investment ideas for dividend growth stocks and/or high-yield investment securities.

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