BNP Paribas Financial Markets Lowers Holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. $AWK

Key Points

• BNP Paribas Financial Markets significantly reduced its position in American Water Works Company by 90.6%, selling over 3.9 million shares in the first quarter.
• Institutional ownership of American Water Works now stands at 86.58%, with various firms like AQR Capital Management and Lido Advisors increasing their stakes during recent quarters.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.8275 per share, with an annualized yield of 2.3%, set to be paid on September 3rd, 2023.

BNP Paribas Financial Markets lessened its holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) by 90.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 405,160 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 3,909,741 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned 0.21% of American Water Works worth $59,769,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Beck Bode LLC acquired a new position in American Water Works during the first quarter worth about $19,166,000. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL bought a new position in shares of American Water Works in the 1st quarter worth $285,000. Ally Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 62.5% in the 1st quarter. Ally Financial Inc. now owns 13,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,918,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares in the last quarter. Mirova lifted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Mirova now owns 79,778 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $11,769,000 after purchasing an additional 2,638 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp bought a new position in shares of American Water Works in the 1st quarter worth $218,000. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on AWK shares. Mizuho increased their price target on American Water Works from $148.00 to $149.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on American Water Works from $147.00 to $141.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Barclays cut their target price on American Water Works from $138.00 to $128.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen downgraded American Water Works from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on American Water Works from $156.00 to $151.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $143.30.

American Water Works Stock Up 0.2%

AWK stock traded up $0.35 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $141.05. The stock had a trading volume of 410,922 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,406,423. The firm has a market cap of $27.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.69. The business has a 50-day moving average of $142.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $142.15. 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.32.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 the consensus estimate of $1.22 billion. American Water Works had a net margin of 21.91% and a return on equity of 10.34%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.42 earnings per share. American Water Works has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.700-5.750 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $0.8275 per share. This represents a $3.31 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 12th. American Water Works's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.64%.

American Water Works 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.