First Trust Advisors LP Raises Position in American Water Works Company, Inc. $AWK

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,003,857 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 67,510 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.51% of American Water Works worth $139,727,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. American National Bank & Trust purchased a new position in American Water Works in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in American Water Works during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Water Works in the second quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Water Works in the third quarter worth $29,000. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Stock Performance

Shares of AWK opened at $137.70 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.20, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.44. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a one year low of $121.28 and a one year high of $155.50. The business has a fifty day moving average of $130.58 and a 200 day moving average of $133.82.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $1.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. American Water Works had a net margin of 21.61% and a return on equity of 10.38%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.15 EPS. American Water Works has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.020-6.120 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on AWK. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on American Water Works from $142.00 to $126.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Barclays decreased their target price on American Water Works from $134.00 to $122.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Bank of America upgraded shares of American Water Works from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $117.00 to $139.00 in a research note on Monday, January 12th. UBS Group set a $149.00 price target on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of American Water Works in a report on Monday, December 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $140.89.

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.