BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Purchases 115,680 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. $AWK

Key Points

• BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S increased its stake in American Water Works by 1,387.4% in Q1, buying 115,680 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 124,018 shares worth about $16.7 million.
• Wall Street sentiment remains cautious: the stock carries a consensus Hold rating with an average price target of $138.11, while recent analyst moves included both target cuts and rating downgrades.
• American Water Works reported Q1 EPS of $1.01, missing estimates, but revenue came in above expectations at $1.21 billion and rose 5.7% year over year. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.895 per share, implying a 2.9% yield.

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) by 1,387.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 124,018 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 115,680 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S owned about 0.06% of American Water Works worth $16,729,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 484,339 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $63,223,000 after buying an additional 56,980 shares during the last quarter. Stance Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,402,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of American Water Works by 18.7% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 93,412 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $12,196,000 after acquiring an additional 14,693 shares during the last quarter. Union Savings Bank bought a new stake in American Water Works during the fourth quarter worth $402,000. Finally, Worthington Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in American Water Works during the fourth quarter worth $499,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.58% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AWK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays upped their price objective on American Water Works from $122.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on American Water Works from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $131.00 price target on shares of American Water Works in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of American Water Works from a "strong sell" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Sunday, April 26th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of American Water Works from $147.00 to $134.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $138.11.

American Water Works Price Performance

American Water Works stock opened at $125.25 on Friday. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $120.57 and a 12 month high of $147.87. 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 business's 50 day simple moving average is $127.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $130.51. The company has a market cap of $24.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.21, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.62.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.10 by ($0.09). American Water Works had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 10.20%. The firm had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.05 earnings per share. American Water Works's revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. American Water Works has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.020-6.120 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 6.09 EPS for the current year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.895 per share. This represents a $3.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 12th. This is a positive change from American Water Works's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. American Water Works's dividend payout ratio is currently 63.48%.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AWK? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.