California Public Employees Retirement System Lowers Stock Holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. $AWK

Key Points

• CalPERS cut its stake in American Water Works by 27.5% in the first quarter, selling 150,548 shares and leaving it with 397,206 shares valued at about $54.1 million.
• Wall Street is mostly cautious on AWK: the stock has an average “Hold” rating, with 2 Buy, 8 Hold, and 1 Sell ratings, and an average price target of $140.60.
• The company raised its dividend to $0.895 per share quarterly, while its latest earnings missed EPS expectations even though revenue came in above estimates and rose 5.7% year over year.

California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) by 27.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 397,206 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 150,548 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.20% of American Water Works worth $54,056,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in American Water Works by 11.5% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 5,912 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $872,000 after buying an additional 609 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP grew its position in American Water Works by 40.7% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 16,466 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,429,000 after acquiring an additional 4,762 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in American Water Works during the second quarter valued at approximately $302,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of American Water Works by 1.5% during the second quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 5,865 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $816,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its stake in shares of American Water Works by 184.4% during the second quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 5,492 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $764,000 after acquiring an additional 3,561 shares in the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AWK has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Bank of America reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of American Water Works from a "strong sell" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of American Water Works from $138.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of American Water Works from $124.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $140.60.

American Water Works Price Performance

Shares of American Water Works stock opened at $133.81 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.34. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a one year low of $120.57 and a one year high of $147.87. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $127.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $130.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.61.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.17 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.05 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. American Water Works has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.020-6.120 EPS. 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.895 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $3.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. This is an increase from American Water Works's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. American Water Works's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.

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