Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Takes $285,000 Position in American Water Works Company, Inc. $AWK

Key Points

• Gamco Investors INC. ET AL has acquired a new position in American Water Works, purchasing 1,931 shares valued at approximately $285,000 in the 1st quarter of this year.
• American Water Works reported a Q2 earnings per share of $1.48, which fell short of analysts' expectations, though its revenue was up 11.1% year-over-year, reaching $1.28 billion.
• A quarterly dividend of $0.8275 per share has been announced, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 2.3%, with the payment date set for September 3rd.

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL acquired a new stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,931 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $285,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of American Water Works by 881.1% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,704,995 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $546,562,000 after purchasing an additional 3,327,352 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 24.1% during the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,532,131 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $668,566,000 after buying an additional 878,951 shares during the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment grew its position in shares of American Water Works by 114.3% during the 1st quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 1,505,106 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,296,000 after buying an additional 802,639 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of American Water Works by 38.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,695,734 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $335,592,000 after acquiring an additional 747,316 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the 1st quarter valued at about $103,053,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on AWK. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $147.00 to $141.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Barclays cut their target price on shares of American Water Works from $138.00 to $128.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 10th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of American Water Works from $156.00 to $151.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of American Water Works from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Argus lifted their target price on American Water Works from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $143.30.

American Water Works Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of American Water Works stock traded up $0.37 during trading on Thursday, reaching $141.07. The stock had a trading volume of 390,499 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,406,344. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The company has a market capitalization of $27.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.69. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $142.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $142.15. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $118.74 and a 52 week high of $155.50.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.22 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 21.91%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.42 earnings per share. American Water Works has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.700-5.750 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th were issued a $0.8275 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.64%.

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.