First Trust Advisors LP Sells 16,203 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. $AWK

Key Points

• First Trust Advisors LP reduced its stake in American Water Works by 1.6% in the first quarter, selling 16,203 shares and leaving it with 1,023,552 shares worth about $139.3 million.
• Wall Street sentiment on the stock is mostly cautious: analysts currently rate American Water Works a Hold on average, with an average price target of $140.60.
• The company recently reported Q1 EPS of $1.01, below estimates, but revenue rose 5.7% year over year; it also increased its quarterly dividend to $0.895, implying a 2.7% yield.

First Trust Advisors LP trimmed its position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) by 1.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,023,552 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 16,203 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.52% of American Water Works worth $139,295,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its position in American Water Works by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,037,823 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,570,936,000 after acquiring an additional 486,090 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of American Water Works by 3,274.6% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,092,757 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $925,605,000 after acquiring an additional 6,882,575 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC grew its position in shares of American Water Works by 64.2% during the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 6,493,161 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $847,361,000 after acquiring an additional 2,539,683 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of American Water Works by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,039,122 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $655,025,000 after purchasing an additional 33,359 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its stake in shares of American Water Works by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 4,171,929 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $544,420,000 after purchasing an additional 275,511 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.58% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on American Water Works from $138.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen raised American Water Works from a "strong sell" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 18th. Barclays lifted their price objective on American Water Works from $124.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on American Water Works from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $140.60.

American Water Works Price Performance

Shares of American Water Works stock opened at $134.46 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $128.10 and a 200 day moving average of $130.72. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $120.57 and a 12 month high of $147.87. The firm has a market cap of $26.26 billion, a PE ratio of 23.84, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.10 by ($0.09). The firm 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 revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.05 EPS. American Water Works has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.020-6.120 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 6.09 EPS 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th were given a $0.895 dividend. This is a boost from American Water Works's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 12th. American Water Works's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.

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