American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) Releases FY 2026 Earnings Guidance

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) updated its FY 2026 earnings guidance on Wednesday. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 6.020-6.120 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 5.950. The company issued revenue guidance of -.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on AWK. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of American Water Works from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $114.00 to $124.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. UBS Group set a $149.00 target price on American Water Works in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on American Water Works from $142.00 to $126.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded American Water Works from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $117.00 to $139.00 in a research note on Monday, January 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, American Water Works currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $140.89.

American Water Works Stock Performance

Shares of AWK traded down $2.37 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $131.14. The stock had a trading volume of 2,357,503 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,751,835. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market cap of $25.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.05, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.77. American Water Works has a 52 week low of $121.28 and a 52 week high of $155.50. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $129.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $134.73.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $1.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.48% and a net margin of 21.93%.American Water Works has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.020-6.120 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that American Water Works will post 5.71 EPS for the current year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Water Works

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AWK. Faithward Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Faithward Advisors LLC now owns 1,602 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $223,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Cresset Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in 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 period. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in American Water Works by 82.6% during the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 199 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych PZU SA increased its stake in American Water Works by 81.3% in the 4th quarter. Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych PZU SA now owns 290 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 5,083 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $663,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.