Equitable Holdings Inc. Takes $1 Million Position in American Water Works Company, Inc. $AWK

Equitable Holdings Inc. bought a new position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 7,633 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,004,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in American Water Works by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,199 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $158,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Faithward Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of American Water Works by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Faithward Advisors LLC now owns 1,602 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $223,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 5,865 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $816,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 82.6% during the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 199 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Focused Wealth Management Inc boosted its position in shares of American Water Works by 4.1% in the first quarter. Focused Wealth Management Inc now owns 2,376 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $323,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on AWK shares. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating on shares of American Water Works in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Truist Financial set a $139.00 price target on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of American Water Works in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on American Water Works from $124.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Water Works currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $138.78.

American Water Works Stock Performance

American Water Works stock opened at $138.19 on Friday. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $120.57 and a 12-month high of $145.64. The company has a market capitalization of $27.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $134.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $131.94.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.08. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 21.35%.The business had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.48 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. American Water Works has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.020-6.120 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 6.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.895 per share. This represents a $3.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 11th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.05%.

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.