Swiss National Bank Acquires 38,300 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. $AWK

Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 7.2% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 572,900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 38,300 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $77,966,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AWK. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of American Water Works by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,037,823 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,570,936,000 after purchasing an additional 486,090 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in American Water Works by 3,274.6% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,092,757 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $925,605,000 after buying an additional 6,882,575 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC grew its position in American Water Works by 64.2% during the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 6,493,161 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $847,361,000 after buying an additional 2,539,683 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in American Water Works by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,039,122 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $655,025,000 after buying an additional 33,359 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its holdings in American Water Works by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 4,171,929 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $544,420,000 after buying an additional 275,511 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of American Water Works from $124.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of American Water Works from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday. Wells Fargo & Company set a $131.00 price objective on American Water Works in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of American Water Works in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on American Water Works from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $140.60.

American Water Works Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AWK opened at $131.43 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $127.80 and a 200 day moving average of $130.67. The stock has a market cap of $25.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.61. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $120.57 and a 12 month high of $147.87. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.10 by ($0.09). American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 21.17%.The firm had revenue of $1.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.17 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.05 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. American Water Works has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.020-6.120 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 6.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th were issued a $0.895 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 12th. This is an increase from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. American Water Works’s payout ratio is currently 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.