American Water Works Company, Inc. $AWK Shares Acquired by Smartleaf Asset Management LLC

Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 20.3% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,341 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 226 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $196,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of AWK. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of American Water Works by 881.1% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,704,995 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $546,562,000 after purchasing an additional 3,327,352 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its position in American Water Works by 24.1% during the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,532,131 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $668,566,000 after acquiring an additional 878,951 shares during the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment boosted its position in American Water Works by 114.3% during the first quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 1,505,106 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,296,000 after acquiring an additional 802,639 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in American Water Works by 38.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,695,734 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $335,592,000 after acquiring an additional 747,316 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in American Water Works during the first quarter worth approximately $103,053,000. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at American Water Works

In other news, CAO Melissa K. Wikle sold 2,825 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.28, for a total value of $404,766.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 7,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,084,916.16. This trade represents a 27.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of AWK opened at $144.03 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $28.10 billion, a PE ratio of 25.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.65. The company’s fifty day moving average is $142.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $141.53. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $118.74 and a fifty-two week high of $155.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $1.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.22 billion. American Water Works had a net margin of 21.91% and a return on equity of 10.34%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.42 EPS. American Water Works has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.700-5.750 EPS. Analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be issued a $0.8275 dividend. This represents a $3.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 12th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AWK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of American Water Works from $147.00 to $141.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of American Water Works from $148.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of American Water Works from $139.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Argus raised their target price on shares of American Water Works from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of American Water Works from $156.00 to $151.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Water Works has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $143.30.

About American Water Works

American Water Works Company, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides water and wastewater services in the United States. It offers water and wastewater services to approximately 1,700 communities in 14 states serving approximately 3.5 million active customers. The company serves residential customers; commercial customers, including food and beverage providers, commercial property developers and proprietors, and energy suppliers; fire service and private fire customers; industrial customers, such as large-scale manufacturers, mining, and production operations; public authorities comprising government buildings and other public sector facilities, such as schools and universities; and other utilities and community water and wastewater systems.