Sterling Capital Management LLC Has $895,000 Stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. $AWK

Sterling Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 43.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,987 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $895,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AWK. Reflection Asset Management bought a new position in shares of American Water Works in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 71.7% in the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 194 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC boosted 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 buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Nemes Rush Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in American Water Works in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on AWK. Wells Fargo & Company set a $131.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen raised American Water Works from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 26th. Barclays lifted their price objective 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. UBS Group raised American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $137.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Friday, May 29th. 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 note on Friday, May 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Water Works has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $138.11.

American Water Works Price Performance

Shares of American Water Works stock opened at $131.82 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.34. The company has a market cap of $25.74 billion, a PE ratio of 23.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.62. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $126.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $130.52. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $120.57 and a fifty-two week high of $147.87.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 21.17%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.05 EPS. American Water Works has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.020-6.120 EPS. Analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 6.08 EPS for the current year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

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