Legal & General Group Plc Cuts Stock Position in American Water Works Company, Inc. $AWK

Legal & General Group Plc lessened its holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,340,248 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 20,803 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $435,902,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in American Water Works by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,856 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $537,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in American Water Works by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,269 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $289,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in American Water Works by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,824 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $369,000 after buying an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its stake in American Water Works by 71.7% in the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 194 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Faithward Advisors LLC increased its stake 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 worth $223,000 after buying an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America cut their price target on American Water Works from $147.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Barclays increased their price target on American Water Works from $122.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Wall Street Zen upgraded American Water Works from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 26th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $131.00 price target on American Water Works in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $138.56.

American Water Works Stock Up 0.1%

AWK opened at $125.31 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $132.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $131.29. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $121.28 and a 52 week high of $147.87. The company has a market capitalization of $24.47 billion, a PE ratio of 22.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.05 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter 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. Analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 6.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This is a boost from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $3.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. American Water Works’s 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.