Montanaro Asset Management Ltd Sells 7,300 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. $AWK

Montanaro Asset Management Ltd reduced its holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 7.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 90,240 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 7,300 shares during the quarter. American Water Works comprises 3.3% of Montanaro Asset Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Montanaro Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $11,776,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in American Water Works by 11.5% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 5,912 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $872,000 after buying an additional 609 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP boosted its position in shares of American Water Works by 40.7% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 16,466 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,429,000 after acquiring an additional 4,762 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the second quarter valued at approximately $302,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of American Water Works by 1.5% in the second 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 last quarter. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its position in American Water Works by 184.4% during the second quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 5,492 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $764,000 after acquiring an additional 3,561 shares during the period. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AWK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Friday, March 27th. UBS Group upgraded shares of American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $137.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $147.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of American Water Works from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 26th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of American Water Works from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Two research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $138.11.

American Water Works Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AWK opened at $125.25 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.21, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.62. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a one year low of $120.57 and a one year high of $147.87. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $127.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $130.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted 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). The business had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.17 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 21.17%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.05 EPS. American Water Works has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.020-6.120 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 6.09 EPS for the current year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.895 per share. This is an increase from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $3.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.48%.

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.