Deutsche Bank AG Reduces Stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. $AWK

Key Points

• Deutsche Bank AG cut its American Water Works stake by 8.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 179,746 shares and leaving it with about 2.04 million shares valued at roughly $265.6 million.
• Wall Street’s view is mostly cautious: analysts currently have a consensus “Hold” rating on AWK, with an average price target of $138.11 despite a recent UBS upgrade to “buy.”
• American Water Works missed earnings but raised its dividend, posting $1.01 EPS versus the $1.10 estimate while revenue topped expectations, and increasing its quarterly dividend to $0.895 per share.

Deutsche Bank AG lowered its stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) by 8.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,035,453 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 179,746 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG owned approximately 1.04% of American Water Works worth $265,627,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of American Water Works by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,219,816 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $290,729,000 after buying an additional 47,977 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc boosted its position in shares of American Water Works by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 489,371 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $63,863,000 after buying an additional 47,352 shares during the period. TSP Capital Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Water Works during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,559,000. Country Trust Bank boosted its position in shares of American Water Works by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Country Trust Bank now owns 178,599 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $23,307,000 after buying an additional 11,401 shares during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of American Water Works by 328.8% during the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 23,796 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,312,000 after buying an additional 18,246 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.58% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AWK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company set a $131.00 target price on American Water Works in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. UBS Group upgraded American Water Works from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $137.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on 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. Bank of America lowered their price target on American Water Works from $147.00 to $134.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on American Water Works from $122.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $138.11.

American Water Works Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AWK opened at $126.49 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $24.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.62. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $120.57 and a 52 week high of $147.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $128.95 and a 200 day moving average of $130.74.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.10 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $1.21 billion during 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%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.05 EPS. American Water Works has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.020-6.120 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 6.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.895 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 12th. This is a boost from American Water Works's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. American Water Works's payout ratio is currently 63.48%.

American Water Works Company 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.

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.