Now that we've welcomed in 2022, we're going to look at the best-performing stocks in the U.S. water utility industry in 2021. (A follow-up article will explore the best stocks in this space to consider buying in 2022. My perennial favorite water utility, industry goliath American Water Works (NYSE: AWK), will top that list.)
Select dividend-paying water utility stocks make great core long-term holdings. All utilities provide products and services that are considered essential, which makes them much more immune to economic downturns than most other sectors. But water utilities provide the most essential product of all utilities: potable water for drinking and other uses. And the wastewater services provided by many water utilities are not very far behind on the essential scale.
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Source Fool.com