AWR vs WTRG: Correlation
American States Water Company (AWR) and Essential Utilities, Inc. (WTRG) show a very strong relationship: their 3-year correlation of weekly returns is 0.80.
Data as of 2026-08-27 · refreshed every trading day · weekly returns · methodology
How correlated are AWR and WTRG?
Across a 3-year window, the weekly returns of AWR and WTRG correlate at 0.80, very strong, meaning they move nearly in lockstep. Recent behaviour matches the longer record: 0.77 over 1 year against 0.80 over 3. Stretching to 5 years gives 0.79, with an annualized covariance of 324.4 %².
Few assets follow AWR as closely as WTRG, which ranks #3 of 16 tracked partners. Their recent paths diverged sharply: over the last 12 months AWR outperformed by 15.9 percentage points (+21.5% for AWR against +5.6% for WTRG).
How is this computed?
Pearson correlation on weekly returns: ρ(A,B) = cov(rA, rB) / (σA · σB), over windows of 52, 156 and 260 weeks. Covariance is annualized (×52) and expressed in %². Full definitions on the methodology page.
AWR vs WTRG: side by side
| AWR (American States Water Company) | WTRG (Essential Utilities, Inc.) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1-year return | +21.5% | +5.6% |
| 5-year return | +7.6% | -5.2% |
| Volatility (ann.) | 20.8% | 19.6% |
| Beta vs S&P 500 | 0.04 | -0.04 |
| Max drawdown (3Y) | -21.9% | -17.9% |
| Market cap | $3.5B | $11.5B |
| P/E (trailing) | 24.3 | 20.9 |
| Dividend yield | 2.24% | 3.36% |
| Sector / category | US Listed | US Listed |
Year-by-year returns
| Year | AWR | WTRG |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | -8.9% | -8.9% |
| 2023 | -11.4% | -19.4% |
| 2024 | -1.2% | +0.5% |
| 2025 | -4.3% | +9.4% |
| 2026 | +25.1% | +8.7% |
Calendar-year price returns; the current year is year-to-date as of the data date above.
Are AWR and WTRG good diversifiers for each other?
No: a correlation of 0.80 means AWR and WTRG tend to fall together, which is precisely when diversification is supposed to help.
FAQ
What is the correlation between AWR and WTRG?
Using weekly returns as of 2026-08-27: 0.80 over 3 years, with 0.77 over the last year and 0.79 over 5 years.
Is WTRG a good diversifier for AWR?
No: a correlation of 0.80 means AWR and WTRG tend to fall together, which is precisely when diversification is supposed to help.
What does a correlation of 0.80 mean?
On the −1 to +1 scale, 0.80 describes how much the two returns move together: +1 is lockstep, 0 is independence, negative values mean opposite directions. It says nothing about which performed better.
Use this data
$ curl https://www.pairbook.io/api/v1/pairs/awr-vs-wtrg.json
Embed this badge (it refreshes with the data), with attribution:
[](https://www.pairbook.io/pair/awr-vs-wtrg/)
No key needed, free to use. Full endpoint list in the API documentation.
Related comparisons
Hubs: AWR correlations · WTRG correlations
