Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Boosts Stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. $AWK

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 70.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 154,718 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 63,709 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $19,603,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AWK. Norges Bank purchased a new position in American Water Works during the fourth quarter worth about $337,004,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in American Water Works by 383.0% during the third quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 2,596,125 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $361,355,000 after purchasing an additional 2,058,656 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its stake in American Water Works by 38.0% during the fourth quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 2,386,873 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $311,487,000 after purchasing an additional 657,849 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in American Water Works by 2.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,227,049 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,650,543,000 after purchasing an additional 597,916 shares during the period. Finally, Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. purchased a new position in American Water Works during the fourth quarter worth about $69,855,000. 86.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on AWK shares. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of American Water Works from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of American Water Works from $122.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. UBS Group raised shares of American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $137.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $131.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of American Water Works from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $138.11.

American Water Works Price Performance

Shares of AWK opened at $124.63 on Monday. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $120.57 and a 1-year high of $147.87. The stock has a market cap of $24.34 billion, a PE ratio of 22.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.62. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $129.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $130.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.34.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by ($0.09). American Water Works had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 10.20%. The company had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.17 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.05 earnings per share. American Water Works’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. American Water Works has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.020-6.120 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 6.09 EPS for the current year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.895 per share. This represents a $3.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 12th. This is a positive change from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.48%.

American Water Works Company Profile

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.