Ethic Inc. Increases Stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. $AWK

Key Points

• Ethic Inc. increased its stake in American Water Works Company by 373.8%, acquiring a total of 65,693 shares valued at approximately $9.06 million by the end of the second quarter.
• The company reported earnings per share (EPS) of $1.48 for the latest quarter, which was $0.05 below analyst expectations, but revenue grew by 11.1% compared to last year.
• American Water Works announced a quarterly dividend of $0.8275 per share, which translates to an annualized dividend yield of 2.3%.

Ethic Inc. increased its position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) by 373.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 65,693 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 51,827 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in American Water Works were worth $9,060,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AWK. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of American Water Works by 39.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,171 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $615,000 after buying an additional 1,189 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of American Water Works by 4.1% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 40,625 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $5,993,000 after buying an additional 1,588 shares during the period. XML Financial LLC bought a new stake in American Water Works during the first quarter valued at about $255,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its position in American Water Works by 21.5% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 7,692 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,135,000 after purchasing an additional 1,359 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its position in American Water Works by 4.4% during the first quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 110,882 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $16,357,000 after purchasing an additional 4,656 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.58% of the company's stock.

American Water Works Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AWK opened at $143.71 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.35. The company has a market cap of $28.04 billion, a PE ratio of 25.89, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.70. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $140.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $141.98. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $118.74 and a fifty-two week high of $155.50.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $1.28 billion during 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 revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.42 EPS. American Water Works has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.700-5.750 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen assumed coverage on American Water Works in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. They set a "hold" rating and a $155.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on American Water Works from $147.00 to $141.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on American Water Works from $156.00 to $151.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on American Water Works from $128.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $145.75.

About American Water Works

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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