Consolidated Water Co. Ltd.

What it is

Consolidated Water designs, builds, and operates seawater desalination plants and water distribution systems — turning ocean water into drinkable water — across several Caribbean countries where fresh water is naturally scarce. The company was established in 1973 as a private water utility in Grand Cayman and obtained its first public utility licence there in 1979.

It supplies potable water, treats wastewater for reuse, and provides water-related products and services in the Cayman Islands, the Bahamas, the United States, and the British Virgin Islands, operating through four units: Retail, Bulk, Services, and Manufacturing. The Bahamas listing (CWCB.BS) represents depositary receipts backed by the company’s ordinary shares, offered specifically to Bahamian investors and first issued in 2005.

Who owns it

The company went public on Nasdaq in June 1995. Institutional investors hold the largest stake at roughly 64% of the stock, with retail investors at about 28% and company insiders at around 8%.

BlackRock is the single largest shareholder, holding about 11% of shares. The largest named individual holder is director Clarence B.

Flowers Jr., who has served since 1991 and owns about 1.9% of shares. There is no controlling family or state shareholder; the company is widely held.

Who runs it

Frederick W. McTaggart serves as President and CEO.

David W. Sasnett is Executive Vice President and CFO.

Board chair is not disclosed in available sources.

Three independent directors were added to the board in October 2025, including Kim Adamson, a water industry executive with nearly 30 years of experience, and Maria Elena Giner, with extensive leadership in water infrastructure.

The money, in plain words

In its latest full year (2025), the company brought in $132.1 million in sales — roughly flat, down about 1% — and earned $18.6 million from continuing operations, or $1.16 per diluted share. That means it keeps about 14 cents of profit from every dollar of revenue — a net margin of ~14.1% (our calculation) — decent for a utility that also builds plants on contract.

Gross margin actually improved to 37%, up 2.6 percentage points year-on-year. Cash and equivalents rose to $123.8 million against essentially no debt — a net cash position of roughly $124 million (our calculation) — giving the company a fortress balance sheet relative to its size.

The stock trades at about 27.9 times earnings (P/E of 27.9x), a premium that reflects growth expectations rather than today’s profits.

What it is doing now

The company’s most important near-term move is a $204 million desalination plant in Kalaeloa, Hawaii, contracted with the Honolulu Board of Water Supply — widely seen as CWCO’s biggest growth lever for 2026–2027. Design is 100% complete and the client confirmed the company can produce water that is a “reasonable match” to current supply quality; construction can begin once all permits are issued.

Services revenue missed expectations in 2025 entirely because of permitting delays on the Hawaii project — delays that management attributes to the normal complexity of multi-agency permitting for a project of this scale, not to any failure by the company. Separately, the company raised its quarterly dividend 27% to $0.14 per share starting in Q3 2025 and won roughly $15.6 million of new U.S. construction contracts.

What to watch

• The stock has already dropped ~22% on Hawaii permitting delays; any formal notice to proceed with construction would be the single biggest positive catalyst.
• Cayman Water’s operating licence is running under a 1990-era concession extended in early 2025; negotiations for a new licence with the regulator are active but unresolved — an outcome here shapes the long-run profitability of the core retail business.
• The company is seeking shareholder approval at its June 2026 AGM for an increase in share capital, which could signal appetite for equity-funded acquisitions.
• In June 2026 the company appointed water-industry veteran Sachin Chawla as SVP of strategy and growth to lead business development and M&A — a signal that management is actively hunting new deals.

This is news, not investment advice.