AMF Tjanstepension AB Decreases Stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. $AWK

AMF Tjanstepension AB decreased its holdings in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 48.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 53,367 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 49,165 shares during the quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $7,428,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in American Water Works by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,629,133 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,565,269,000 after acquiring an additional 380,870 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,430,863 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,590,147,000 after purchasing an additional 286,053 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 2.1% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,949,996 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $685,662,000 after purchasing an additional 103,595 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its position in American Water Works by 4.8% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 3,926,541 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $559,951,000 after buying an additional 179,127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in American Water Works by 16.8% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,442,004 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $478,817,000 after buying an additional 494,868 shares in the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AWK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays cut their target price on American Water Works from $134.00 to $122.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $155.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group set a $149.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of American Water Works from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $114.00 to $124.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of American Water Works from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $117.00 to $139.00 in a research report on Monday, January 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $139.60.

American Water Works Stock Performance

Shares of AWK stock opened at $129.58 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.42. The firm has a market cap of $25.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.76. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $130.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $136.44. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a one year low of $121.30 and a one year high of $155.50.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.36 billion. American Water Works had a net margin of 21.93% and a return on equity of 10.48%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.80 EPS. American Water Works has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.700-5.750 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 6.020-6.120 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 EPS for the current year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 10th will be paid a $0.8275 dividend. This represents a $3.31 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 10th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.17%.

About American Water Works

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.