American Water Works Company, Inc. $AWK Holdings Lowered by Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. cut its stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 45,272 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,907 shares during the period. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $6,301,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Tranquility Partners LLC boosted its stake in American Water Works by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Tranquility Partners LLC now owns 1,617 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $225,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the third quarter valued at $650,000. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in American Water Works during the third quarter valued at about $7,692,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH boosted its stake in American Water Works by 9.2% during the third quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 410,064 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,077,000 after buying an additional 34,437 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Demars Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in American Water Works during the third quarter worth about $621,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:AWK opened at $131.44 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $130.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $136.62. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $120.63 and a 52 week high of $155.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.42. The company has a market cap of $25.65 billion, a PE ratio of 23.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.76.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.36 billion. American Water Works had a net margin of 21.93% and a return on equity of 10.48%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.80 EPS. American Water Works has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.700-5.750 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 6.020-6.120 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 10th will be paid a $0.8275 dividend. This represents a $3.31 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 10th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group set a $149.00 price target on shares of American Water Works in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $155.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of American Water Works from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $114.00 to $124.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Cowen began coverage on American Water Works in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Bank of America upgraded American Water Works from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $117.00 to $139.00 in a research report on Monday, January 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $139.60.

American Water Works 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.