California Water Service Group (CWT) is overvalued and H2O America (HTO) is overvalued.
Both trade above our estimate of their intrinsic value. HTO is the closer of the two: -42%, against -48% for CWT.
Values as of the 22 Sept 2026 close.
Discounting its cash flows at 7.1% (average of 3 methods) values the shares at $31.85; the price of $47.29 is 48% above that value, and 83% of that value comes from beyond year five.
Leak Score 14/100 on 3 of 12 signals
Discounting its cash flows at 6.7% (average of 3 methods) values the shares at $44.37; the price of $62.92 is 42% above that value, and 84% of that value comes from beyond year five.
Leak Score 14/100 on 3 of 12 signals
| Metric | CWT | HTO |
|---|---|---|
| Verdict | Overvalued | Overvalued |
| Price | $47.29 | $62.92 |
| Intrinsic value | $31.85 | $44.37 |
| Margin of safety | -48% | -42% |
| Leak Score | 14/100 (3/12) | 14/100 (3/12) |
| Market cap | $2.9B | $2.6B |
| Revenue growth, 5 years | 4.7% | 7.2% |
| Operating margin | 19.2% | 21.5% |
| Net margin | 12.6% | 12.9% |
| Return on equity | 7.7% | 6.5% |
| Debt to equity | 0.93 | 1.03 |
| P/E | 21.3x | 22.2x |
| Forward P/E | 17.2x | 22.3x |
| P/B | 1.6x | 1.4x |
| Dividend yield | 2.8% | 2.8% |