AIA Group Ltd Sells 8,565 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. $AWK

AIA Group Ltd lessened its stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 75.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,752 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 8,565 shares during the quarter. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $375,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd boosted its stake in American Water Works by 812.3% in the 1st quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 7,837 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,088,000 after purchasing an additional 6,978 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of American Water Works by 21.5% in the 1st quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 8,761 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,192,000 after purchasing an additional 1,553 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 6.8% in the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,993 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $407,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Goodman Financial Corp bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the first quarter valued at about $14,686,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of American Water Works by 11.3% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,452,971 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $335,542,000 after buying an additional 249,504 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Stock Performance

AWK opened at $133.81 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $127.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $130.66. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52-week low of $120.57 and a 52-week high of $147.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.13 billion, a PE ratio of 23.73, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.61.

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 company had revenue of $1.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. American Water Works had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 10.20%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.05 earnings per share. American Water Works has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.020-6.120 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 6.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th were paid a $0.895 dividend. This is a boost from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $3.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.48%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AWK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded American Water Works from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on American Water Works from $138.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Truist Financial decreased their price target 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. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $140.60.

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.