KBC Group NV Sells 138,832 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. $AWK

KBC Group NV lessened its holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 30.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 320,037 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 138,832 shares during the period. KBC Group NV owned about 0.16% of American Water Works worth $44,520,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AWK. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of American Water Works by 20.2% in the 2nd quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 312,969 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $43,537,000 after purchasing an additional 52,492 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 17.3% in the second quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 98,539 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,708,000 after buying an additional 14,555 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service boosted its position in shares of American Water Works by 0.9% during the second quarter. National Pension Service now owns 244,319 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,987,000 after acquiring an additional 2,185 shares during the last quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of American Water Works by 5.4% during the second quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,558 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $217,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. bought a new stake in American Water Works in the 2nd quarter valued at $545,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on AWK shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of American Water Works in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded American Water Works from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $114.00 to $124.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Cowen assumed coverage on American Water Works in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Mizuho set a $145.00 price objective on American Water Works in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on American Water Works in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $155.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.00.

American Water Works Stock Performance

NYSE AWK opened at $129.77 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $137.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $140.56. 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 market cap of $25.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.35.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.36 billion. American Water Works had a net margin of 21.93% and a return on equity of 10.57%. American Water Works’s quarterly revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.80 earnings per share. American Water Works has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.700-5.750 EPS. FY 2026 guidance at 6.020-6.120 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 13th will be paid a $0.8275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 13th. This represents a $3.31 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.17%.

American Water Works Company 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.