American Water Named One of America’s Most JUST Companies by JUST Capital and CNBC

Rhea-AI Summary

American Water (AWK) has been named one of America’s Most JUST Companies by JUST Capital and CNBC, ranking 68th overall and the highest-ranked water utility. The company's commitment to employees, customers, communities, and shareholders has been recognized, with significant positive impact on workers' wages, career development training, parental leave, CO2 emissions, profit margin, return on equity, and dividend yield.

Positive

• American Water (AWK) named one of America’s Most JUST Companies by JUST Capital and CNBC
• Ranked 68th overall and the highest-ranked water utility
• Positive impact on workers' wages, career development training, parental leave, CO2 emissions, profit margin, return on equity, and dividend yield

Negative

• None.

Reflects company’s continued commitment to employees, customers, communities and shareholders

CAMDEN, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- American Water (NYSE: AWK), the largest regulated water and wastewater utility company in the U.S., announced today that it has been named one of America’s Most JUST Companies by JUST Capital and CNBC. American Water is the highest-ranked water utility and ranked 68^th overall, well within the top 10% of all Russell 1000 companies that were considered. The JUST 100 is the only ranking that recognizes American corporate leadership on business issues prioritized by the public.

“American capitalism has to work for more Americans. For this to happen, the private sector, and especially big corporations, must take the lead in creating value for all their stakeholders,” said JUST Capital CEO Martin Whittaker. “That’s exactly what the JUST 100 are doing. They show that just business is better business.”

Compared to Russell 1000 peers, companies in the JUST 100 on average:

• Pay 11.8 percentage points more of their workers a family sustaining living wage (78.3%).
• Provide 7.2 more hours of career development training per employee.
• Offer 2 more weeks of paid parental leave for both primary caregivers and secondary caregivers.
• Emitted 42% less metric tons of CO2 per revenue dollar.
• Have a 4% higher profit margin, 2.9% higher return on equity, and 1.2% higher dividend yield.

“American Water is honored to be recognized by JUST Capital as one of America’s Most JUST Companies,” said John Griffith, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, American Water. “Our inclusion in the JUST 100 confirms our belief that prioritizing all stakeholders leads to long-term growth and success.”

For the annual Rankings, JUST Capital collects and analyzes corporate data to evaluate the 1,000 largest public U.S. companies across 20 issues identified through comprehensive, ongoing public opinion research on Americans’ attitudes toward responsible corporate behavior.

CNBC will delve into the data, highlighting company-specific results and showcasing key stakeholder performance stories about this year’s JUST 100 leaders across the network’s broadcast and digital platforms at cnbc.com/just100. An exploration of the JUST 100 companies can be found at justcapital.com/rankings.

About American Water

American Water (NYSE: AWK) is the largest regulated water and wastewater utility company in the United States. With a history dating back to 1886, We Keep Life Flowing® by providing safe, clean, reliable and affordable drinking water and wastewater services to more than 14 million people with regulated operations in 14 states and on 18 military installations. American Water’s 6,500 talented professionals leverage their significant expertise and the company’s national size and scale to achieve excellent outcomes for the benefit of customers, employees, investors and other stakeholders.

For more information, visit amwater.com and join American Water on LinkedIn, Facebook, X and Instagram.

About JUST Capital

The mission of JUST Capital, an independent nonprofit, is to demonstrate how just business – defined by the priorities of the public – is better business. Our goal is to help companies create value for all their stakeholders – their workers, customers, communities, the environment, and shareholders – by focusing on the issues that matter most to Americans. To date, we’ve polled more than 170,000 Americans on the issues they believe companies should prioritize when it comes to just business behavior, and those insights guide our work. We believe that business and markets can and must be a force for the greater good and that by shifting the resources of the $21.6 trillion private sector, we can drive competition to build a better future for all. Our research, rankings, indexes, initiatives, and new offerings like the JUST Jobs Scorecard help track, analyze, incentivize, and scale corporate stakeholder performance. JUST Capital publishes the annual list of America’s Most JUST Companies, the JUST 100, in partnership with CNBC. To learn more, visit: www.JUSTCapital.com.

About CNBC

CNBC is the recognized world leader in business news, providing real-time financial market coverage and business content consumed by more than half a billion people per month across all platforms. The network's 15 live hours a day of news programming in North America (weekdays from 5:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. ET) is produced at CNBC's global headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., and includes reports from CNBC News bureaus worldwide. CNBC at night features a mix of reality programming, CNBC's highly successful series produced exclusively for CNBC and a number of distinctive in-house documentaries.

About Methodology

Since 2015, JUST Capital has surveyed more than 170,000 Americans on what Issues they believe U.S. companies should prioritize when it comes to just business behavior. Those Issues become the foundation by which we track, analyze, and incentivize corporate behavior change, including the Rankings of America’s Most JUST Companies. JUST evaluated 937 companies across 5 stakeholders, 20 Issues, and 236 raw data points to produce the 2024 Rankings, featuring the JUST 100 and Industry Leader lists.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240208252824/en/

Investor Contact:

Janelle McNally

Senior Manager, Investor Relations & ESG

American Water

856-571-0187

Janelle.McNally@amwater.com



Media Contact:

Alicia Barbieri

Director, Communications and External Affairs

American Water

(856) 676-8103

alicia.barbieri@amwater.com

Source: American Water

FAQ

What is American Water's (AWK) ranking in the JUST 100 companies?

American Water (AWK) is ranked 68th overall and is the highest-ranked water utility.

How does American Water (AWK) prioritize stakeholders?

American Water (AWK) prioritizes stakeholders, leading to long-term growth and success, as confirmed by their inclusion in the JUST 100.

What are the positive impacts of American Water's (AWK) inclusion in the JUST 100?

The inclusion in the JUST 100 has resulted in positive impacts on workers' wages, career development training, parental leave, CO2 emissions, profit margin, return on equity, and dividend yield.

How does American Water (AWK) compare to its Russell 1000 peers in terms of workers' wages?

Compared to Russell 1000 peers, American Water (AWK) pays 11.8 percentage points more of their workers a family sustaining living wage.

What is the CEO's statement regarding American Water's (AWK) recognition by JUST Capital?

The CEO, John Griffith, stated that American Water (AWK) prioritizing all stakeholders leads to long-term growth and success.

What is the key focus of the JUST 100 ranking?

The JUST 100 ranking recognizes corporate leadership on business issues prioritized by the public and emphasizes the creation of value for all stakeholders.

How does CNBC contribute to the annual Rankings by JUST Capital?

CNBC delves into the data, highlighting company-specific results and showcasing key stakeholder performance stories.

What issues are evaluated by JUST Capital for the annual Rankings?

JUST Capital evaluates 20 issues identified through comprehensive, ongoing public opinion research on Americans’ attitudes toward responsible corporate behavior.

What are the financial and environmental impacts of the JUST 100 companies compared to their peers?

Compared to their peers, the JUST 100 companies have positive impacts on profit margin, return on equity, dividend yield, CO2 emissions, workers' wages, and parental leave.