American Water Works Company, Inc. $AWK Shares Bought by KBC Group NV

Key Points

• KBC Group NV increased its stake in American Water Works by 14.6% in Q1, buying 80,637 additional shares and bringing its holding to 633,703 shares valued at about $86.2 million.
• American Water Works reported quarterly EPS of $1.01, missing analyst expectations, though revenue came in above estimates at $1.21 billion and rose 5.7% year over year.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.895 per share, up from $0.83, lifting the annualized payout to $3.58 and the yield to about 2.7%.

KBC Group NV raised its stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) by 14.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 633,703 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 80,637 shares during the period. KBC Group NV owned 0.32% of American Water Works worth $86,241,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of AWK. Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its holdings in American Water Works by 71.7% in the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 194 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Reflection Asset Management bought a new stake in American Water Works during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in American Water Works by 82.6% during the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 199 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Ascentis Independent Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the first quarter worth $27,000. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company's stock.

American Water Works Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:AWK opened at $135.08 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $127.56 and a 200-day moving average of $130.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The firm has a market cap of $26.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.61. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $120.57 and a twelve month high of $147.87.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.10 by ($0.09). The firm 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%.American Water Works's revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.05 EPS. American Water Works has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.020-6.120 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 6.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.895 per share. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. American Water Works's dividend payout ratio is presently 63.48%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AWK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of 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. UBS Group boosted their price target 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. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $138.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $140.60.

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.

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