American Water Works Company, Inc. $AWK Shares Sold by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

Key Points

• The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company reduced its position in American Water Works by 4.1%, owning approximately 0.06% of the company after selling 5,154 shares.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds now hold 86.58% of American Water Works' stock, with significant increases in holdings from Price T Rowe Associates and Pictet Asset Management.
• American Water Works announced a quarterly dividend of $0.8275 per share, representing an annual yield of 2.3%, with a dividend payout ratio of 59.64%.

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lowered its position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) by 4.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 119,630 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 5,154 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 0.06% of American Water Works worth $17,648,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AWK. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 881.1% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,704,995 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $546,562,000 after buying an additional 3,327,352 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 24.1% during the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,532,131 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $668,566,000 after buying an additional 878,951 shares during the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment increased its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 114.3% during the 1st quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 1,505,106 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,296,000 after buying an additional 802,639 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 38.4% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,695,734 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $335,592,000 after buying an additional 747,316 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the 1st quarter worth approximately $103,053,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $147.00 to $141.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 1st. Argus upped their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $148.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of American Water Works from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $138.00 to $128.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $143.30.

American Water Works Price Performance

American Water Works stock opened at $141.37 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $27.58 billion, a PE ratio of 25.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.69. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52-week low of $118.74 and a 52-week high of $155.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The company's 50 day moving average is $142.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $142.16.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.22 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 21.91%.American Water Works's quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.42 earnings per share. American Water Works has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.700-5.750 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.8275 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 12th. This represents a $3.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. American Water Works's dividend payout ratio is 59.64%.

American Water Works Company Profile

American Water Works Company, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides water and wastewater services in the United States. It offers water and wastewater services to approximately 1,700 communities in 14 states serving approximately 3.5 million active customers. The company serves residential customers; commercial customers, including food and beverage providers, commercial property developers and proprietors, and energy suppliers; fire service and private fire customers; industrial customers, such as large-scale manufacturers, mining, and production operations; public authorities comprising government buildings and other public sector facilities, such as schools and universities; and other utilities and community water and wastewater systems.

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