American Water Works Company, Inc. $AWK Shares Bought by Nicola Wealth Management LTD.

Nicola Wealth Management LTD. lifted its holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 16.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Nicola Wealth Management LTD.’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $2,139,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AWK. Cloud Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Water Works in the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in American Water Works during the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Flaharty Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in American Water Works during the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in American Water Works during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new stake in American Water Works during the first quarter valued at about $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Trading Up 0.9%

American Water Works stock opened at $139.72 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $142.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $142.61. 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 Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $118.74 and a 12 month high of $155.50. The stock has a market cap of $27.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.69.

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

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th were paid a dividend of $0.8275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 12th. This represents a $3.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $147.00 to $141.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $138.00 to $128.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $148.00 to $149.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $156.00 to $151.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Argus increased their price objective on American Water Works from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $143.30.

American Water Works Profile

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.