Updated on July 18th, 2023 by Bob Ciura
Water is one of the basic necessities of human life. Life as we know it cannot exist without water. For this simple reason, water may be the most valuable commodity on Earth.
It is only natural for investors to consider purchasing water stocks. There are many different companies that can give investors exposure to the water business, such as water utilities. Some other companies are engaged in water purification.
In all, we have compiled a list of over 50 stocks that are in the business of water. The list was derived from five of the top water industry exchange-traded funds:
- Invesco Water Resources ETF (PHO)
- Invesco S&P Global Water ETF (CGW)
- Invesco Global Water ETF (PIO)
- First Trust ISE Water Index Fund (FIW)
- Ecofin Global Water ESG Fund (EBLU)
You can download a spreadsheet with all 56 water stocks (along with metrics that matter like price-to-earnings ratios and dividend yields) by clicking on the link below:
In addition to the Excel spreadsheet above, this article covers our top 7 water stocks today, that we cover in the Sure Analysis Research Database.
This article will discuss the top 7 water stocks according to their expected returns over the next five years, ranked in order of lowest to highest.
Table of Contents
- Water Stock #7: Gorman-Rupp Co. (GRC)
- Water Stock #6: Consolidated Water Co. (CWCO)
- Water Stock #5: Roper Technologies (ROP)
- Water Stock #4: Danaher Corporation (DHR)
- Water Stock #3: Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN)
- Water Stock #2: Idex Corporation (IEX)
- Water Stock #1: Lindsay Corporation (LNN)
Water Stock #7: Gorman-Rupp Co. (GRC)
- 5-year expected annual returns: 6.8%
Gorman-Rupp is a manufacturer of critical systems that many industrial clients rely upon for their own success. It generates about one-third of its total revenue from outside of the U.S. The company also has one of the most impressive dividend increase streaks among the water stocks, which currently stands at 50 years. That makes Gorman-Rupp a member of the prestigious Dividend Kings.
Source: Investor Presentation
Gorman-Rupp reported fourth quarter earnings on February 3rd, 2023, and results were mixed. Adjusted earnings-per share missed expectations badly, coming in at 11 cents against an expected 18 cents. Revenue, on the other hand, soared 55% year-over-year to $146 million.
This was slightly better than expected, and was helped along by the recent Fill-Rite acquisition. Excluding Fill-Rite, sales in water markets were up 23% year-over-year, as all of its sub-segments posted gains. In the non-water markets, sales were up 10%, as the industrial sub-segment posted very strong growth, which offset losses elsewhere.
Gross profit was $36.6 million in the fourth quarter, resulting in gross margin of 25.1% of revenue. These were much higher than the $22.3 million and 23.7%, respectively, from the year-ago period. The gains in gross margin were primarily from additional sales leverage, which Fill-Rite helped. Operating income was $12.5 million, or 8.6%, compared to $8.2 million and 8.7%, respectively, a year ago.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on Gorman-Rupp (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
Water Stock #6: Consolidated Water Co. (CWCO)
- 5-year expected annual returns: 6.8%
Consolidated Water was founded in 1973 as a private water utility in Grand Cayman. The company uses a desalination process that helps provide water where naturally potable water is scarce or does not exist. Consolidated Water serves a wide variety of international customers.
Source: Investor Presentation
On May 15th, Consolidated Water Co. announced its financial results for Q1. In the first quarter of 2023, the company experienced significant growth in its financial performance. Total revenue increased by a remarkable 68% to reach $32.9 million. Within this, retail revenue saw a 23% increase, reaching $7.8 million, while bulk revenue increased by 22% to $9.0 million.
Services revenue showed the most substantial growth, rising by 168% to $12.7 million. Manufacturing revenue also saw an increase, reaching $3.4 million. Net income from continuing operations attributable to the company stockholders reached $4.1 million, up 75% from the same period last year, equating to $0.26 per basic and fully diluted share.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on CWCO (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
Water Stock #5: Roper Technologies (ROP)
- 5-year expected annual returns: 7.1%
Roper Technologies is a specialized industrial company that manufactures products such as medical and scientific imaging equipment, pumps, and material analysis equipment. Roper Technologies also develops software solutions for the healthcare, transportation, food, energy, and water industries. The company was founded in 1981, generates around $5.4 billion in annual revenues, and is based in Sarasota, Florida.
On April 27th, 2023, Roper reported its Q1 results for the period ending March 31st, 2023. On a continuing operations basis, quarterly revenues and adjusted EPS were $1.47 billion and $3.90, indicating a year-over-year increase of 15% and 19%, respectively. The company’s momentum during the quarter remained strong, with organic growth coming in at 8%. Organic growth was once again driven by broad-based strength across its portfolio of niche-leading businesses.
Roper has a very low dividend payout ratio, making it one of the safest Dividend Aristocrats.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on ROP (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
Water Stock #4: Danaher Corporation (DHR)
- 5-year expected annual returns: 7.8%
Danaher Corporation is active in the healthcare industry and designs, manufactures, and markets professional, medical, industrial, and commercial products and services. The company operates through three main segments: Life & Bio Sciences (38% of annual revenue – end of 2022), Diagnostics (35% of annual revenue), and Environmental & Applied Solutions (15% of annual revenue). The company made 14 acquisitions in 2021 for a total of $11.0 billion, including the Aldevron acquisition of $9.6 billion.
On April 25th, 2023, Danaher Corporation released its first quarter fiscal 2023 results for the period ending March 31st, 2023. For the quarter, the company reported revenue of $7.2 billion which represents a 7.0% decrease compared with revenue of $7.69 billion in the same quarter of 2022. This decline is mainly due to a decrease in the sale of COVID-related products.
In the first quarter, Danaher’s cost of sales decreased 6.2% year-over-year to $2,797 million, with a gross margin of 61% and unchanged year-over-year. Reported quarterly earnings per diluted share equaled $2.36, which represents a 14.5% decrease compared to $2.76 for the same period last year.
For the full year of 2023, the company expects that non-GAAP base business core revenue growth will be in the mid-single-digit percent range. The company earlier expected non-GAAP base business core revenue to be up high-single digits.
As a reference, Danaher‘s base business grew 6.0% in the first quarter. Organic sales growth is estimated to increase in high single-digits in the second quarter and the full year.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on Danaher (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
Water Stock #3: Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (AQN)
- 5-year expected annual returns: 8.5%
Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. is a renewable power and utility company that was founded in 1988. The company has increased its dividend every year since 2011.
It has two business segments: regulated utilities (natural gas, electric, and water) and non-regulated renewable energy (wind, solar, hydro, and thermal). Combined, its entire portfolio has 4.3 GW of generating capacity that it aims to achieve 75% renewable energy generation by 2023.
Source: Investor Presentation
Algonquin serves more than 1 million connections primarily in the U.S. and Canada. It also has renewable and clean energy facilities that are largely (about 82%) under long-term contracts of ~12 years with inflation escalations.
On April 26th, 2023, IDEX reported first quarter 2023 results for the period ending March 31st, 2023. The company earned $2.09 in adjusted earnings-per-share in the quarter, increasing 7% from the year-ago quarter’s $1.96. For the quarter, IDEX’s net sales were $845.4 million, reflecting year-over-year growth of 12.6%.
Organic sales in the quarter increased 6% year-over-year, higher than 3-5% growth expected by IEX. Acquired assets boosted sales by 9%, while foreign currency translation left a negative impact of 2%. IDEX achieved record sales with positive organic growth across all three segments.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on AQN (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
Water Stock #2: Idex Corporation (IEX)
- 5-year expected annual returns: 9.3%
The IDEX Corporation (IEX) is a company that sells industrial products worldwide. The business operates through three segments: Fluid & Metering Technology (FMT), Health & Science Technologies (HST), and Fire & Safety/Diversified Products (FDSP).
These segments made up 35.5%, 43.5%, and 21.0% of sales, respectively, for 2022. Inside each of the segments, IDEX owns a series of businesses in niche markets that own highly engineered and proprietary assets.
Source: Investor Presentation
These businesses are generally in fragmented niches in growing markets, and most of their businesses are first or second in their niche markets. This gives the business the advantage of being able to drive high returns on operating capital because each of its individual businesses has a moat. IDEX Corporation was incorporated in 1987 and has 8,500 employees.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on IDEX (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
Water Stock #1: Lindsay Corporation (LNN)
- 5-year expected annual returns: 10.8%
Lindsay Corporation provides water management and road infrastructure services in the United States and internationally. The business’s irrigation segment provides irrigation solutions for farmers and contributed 86% of sales in fiscal year 2022, and the infrastructure segment helps with road and bridge repairs and contributed the other 14%. The conflict in Ukraine has caused a disruption in agricultural activity in that region, leading farmers to plant more intensively in North America.
On April 4th, 2023, Lindsay reported Q2 2023 results for the period ending February 28th, 2023.
Source: Investor Presentation
The business saw diluted earnings-per-share of $1.63, beating analyst estimates and rising from $1.32 for the same period last year. Revenues, however, declined 17% year-over-year to $166 million. The revenue decline was due to a sharp drop in irrigation demand, though the company made up for this via rising profit margins and cost-cutting.
Both irrigation and infrastructure benefit from government support payments. The recent Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act (IIJA) marks the largest federal investment into infrastructure projects in more than a decade and should boost Lindsay’s infrastructure business. Indeed, Lindsay reported a sharp jump in earnings in 2022 as the company saw growth in both of its business segments.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on Lindsay (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
Final Thoughts
Water could be one of the biggest investing themes over the next several decades. An increasing global population is only going to cause demand for water to rise in the future.
And, given the fact that water is a necessity of human life, demand for water should hold up extremely well, even during the worst recessions.
Therefore, young investors with a longer time horizon such as Millennials should consider water stocks.
These factors make water stocks appealing for risk-averse investors looking for stability from their stock investments.
Not all the water stocks on this list receive buy recommendations at this time, as some appear to be overvalued today. But all the water stocks on this list pay dividends and are likely to increase their dividends for many years in the future.
Additional Resources
At Sure Dividend, we often advocate for investing in companies with a high probability of increasing their dividends each and every year.
If that strategy appeals to you, it may be useful to browse through the following databases of dividend growth stocks:
- The Dividend Aristocrats List: S&P 500 stocks with 25+ years of dividend increases.
- The High Yield Dividend Aristocrats List is comprised of the 20 Dividend Aristocrats with the highest current yields.
- The Dividend Achievers List is comprised of ~350 stocks with 10+ years of consecutive dividend increases.
- The Dividend Kings List is even more exclusive than the Dividend Aristocrats. It is comprised of 50 stocks with 50+ years of consecutive dividend increases.
- The High Yield Dividend Kings List is comprised of the 20 Dividend Kings with the highest current yields.
- The Blue Chip Stocks List: stocks that qualify as Dividend Achievers, Dividend Aristocrats, and/or Dividend Kings
- The High Dividend Stocks List: stocks that appeal to investors interested in the highest yields of 5% or more.
- The Monthly Dividend Stocks List: stocks that pay dividends every month, for 12 dividend payments per year.
- The Dividend Champions List: stocks that have increased their dividends for 25+ consecutive years.
Note: Not all Dividend Champions are Dividend Aristocrats because Dividend Aristocrats have additional requirements like being in The S&P 500. - The Dividend Contenders List: 10-24 consecutive years of dividend increases.
- The Dividend Challengers List: 5-9 consecutive years of dividend increases.
The major domestic stock market indices are another solid resource for finding investment ideas. Sure Dividend compiles the following stock market databases and updates them monthly: