American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The utilities provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.10 by ($0.09), FiscalAI reports. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.25% and a net margin of 21.17%.The firm had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.17 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.05 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. American Water Works updated its FY 2026 guidance to 6.020-6.120 EPS.

American Water Works Trading Down 0.5%

AWK traded down $0.67 during trading on Friday, reaching $127.75. 722,464 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,826,648. American Water Works has a fifty-two week low of $121.28 and a fifty-two week high of $150.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.95 billion, a PE ratio of 22.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.46. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $135.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $132.66.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.895 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $3.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. This is a boost from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.17%.

Key Headlines Impacting American Water Works

Here are the key news stories impacting American Water Works this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Raised dividend and shareholder-friendly actions — AWK declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.895 (an 8.2% increase), which supports the income story for dividend-focused investors. AMERICAN WATER REPORTS FIRST QUARTER 2026 RESULTS ON TRACK; AFFIRMS 2026 EPS GUIDANCE AND LONG-TERM TARGETS
• Positive Sentiment: Revenue beat and guidance affirmed — Q1 revenue of ~$1.21B topped estimates and management reaffirmed FY26 EPS range, which reduces near-term forecast uncertainty despite the EPS miss. Earnings Release and Slide Deck
• Neutral Sentiment: Strategic growth and operations commentary — Management outlined an H2-weighted growth path and provided detailed Q1 slides and call materials; useful context for longer-term earnings cadence but not an immediate catalyst. American Water Works Charts H2-Weighted Growth Path
• Neutral Sentiment: Community and regulatory positioning — PR about Drinking Water Week, infrastructure needs and charitable grants reinforce regulatory goodwill and long-term rate base support but are not immediate stock drivers. American Water Marks Drinking Water Week with National Focus on Safe, Reliable Water
• Negative Sentiment: EPS miss and near-term earnings pressure — Q1 adjusted EPS of $1.01 missed consensus (~$1.10), which pressured the stock; adjusted results also exclude transaction costs tied to the proposed Essential merger. American Water Works (AWK) Q1 Earnings Miss Estimates
• Negative Sentiment: Financing and transaction costs tied to merger — AWK issued $700M of 5.20% senior notes and flagged transaction costs and incremental interest implications from the proposed Essential Utilities deal; higher debt and near-term M&A costs create execution and leverage risk. AMERICAN WATER REPORTS FIRST QUARTER 2026 RESULTS ON TRACK; AFFIRMS 2026 EPS GUIDANCE AND LONG-TERM TARGETS

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AWK has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America raised American Water Works from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $117.00 to $139.00 in a report on Monday, January 12th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $131.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of American Water Works in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. They set a “hold” rating and a $137.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of American Water Works in a report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of American Water Works from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, April 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.20.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Water Works

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Faithward Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of American Water Works by 5.4% during the third quarter. Faithward Advisors LLC now owns 1,602 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $223,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of American Water Works by 1.5% during the second quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 5,865 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $816,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of American Water Works by 82.6% during the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 199 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych PZU SA lifted its position in shares of American Water Works by 81.3% during the fourth quarter. Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych PZU SA now owns 290 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Water Works by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 5,083 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $663,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

About American Water Works

American Water Works Company, Inc (NYSE: AWK) is a publicly traded utility company that provides water and wastewater services in the United States. Its core business is the operation, management and maintenance of regulated water and wastewater systems that deliver potable water, collect and treat wastewater, and provide related customer services to residential, commercial and industrial customers as well as municipalities. The company’s operations include water treatment and distribution, wastewater collection and treatment, meter reading and billing, emergency repairs, and long-term infrastructure planning and capital project execution.

In addition to its regulated utility operations, American Water offers complementary nonregulated services and solutions that support system reliability and customer needs.