Groupe la Francaise Sells 12,756 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. $AWK

Key Points

• Groupe la Francaise reduced its stake in American Water Works by 16%, holding 66,958 shares valued at $9.44 million after selling 12,756 shares in the first quarter.
• American Water Works reported a quarterly EPS of $1.48, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53, while its revenue increased by 11.1% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.8275, yielding 2.3%, with a dividend payout ratio of 59.64% for investors recorded on August 12th.

Groupe la Francaise lowered its stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) by 16.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 66,958 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 12,756 shares during the quarter. Groupe la Francaise's holdings in American Water Works were worth $9,444,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC increased its stake in American Water Works by 15.2% in the 1st quarter. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC now owns 16,478 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,431,000 after purchasing an additional 2,175 shares in the last quarter. Gitterman Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in American Water Works by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Gitterman Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,953 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $583,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Norinchukin Bank The increased its stake in American Water Works by 18.3% in the 1st quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 12,400 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,829,000 after purchasing an additional 1,918 shares in the last quarter. CW Advisors LLC increased its stake in American Water Works by 51.6% in the 1st quarter. CW Advisors LLC now owns 10,707 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,568,000 after purchasing an additional 3,643 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in American Water Works by 881.1% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.58% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Water Works news, CAO Melissa K. Wikle sold 2,825 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.28, for a total value of $404,766.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,572 shares in the company, valued at $1,084,916.16. This represents a 27.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.11% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on AWK. UBS Group lowered their target price on American Water Works from $156.00 to $151.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Wall Street Zen lowered American Water Works from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Argus upped their price target on American Water Works from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Barclays cut their price target on American Water Works from $138.00 to $128.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on American Water Works from $139.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $143.30.

American Water Works Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AWK traded down $1.01 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $143.74. The stock had a trading volume of 261,132 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,415,677. The business's fifty day moving average is $142.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $141.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $28.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.92, a PEG ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.65. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $118.74 and a twelve month high of $155.50.

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

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be given a $0.8275 dividend. This represents a $3.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 12th. American Water Works's dividend payout ratio is 59.64%.

American Water Works Profile

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.