Osterweis Capital Management Inc. Makes New Investment in American Water Works Company, Inc. $AWK

Key Points

• Osterweis Capital Management acquired 249,175 shares of American Water Works, worth approximately $32.8 million, making AWK 1.5% of its portfolio and its 22nd-largest holding.
• Analysts remain broadly cautious, with one Buy, eight Hold, and one Sell rating; the consensus rating is Hold with a $138.78 price target.
• American Water Works exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting $1.61 in EPS and $1.35 billion in revenue, while declaring a quarterly dividend of $0.895 per share, equivalent to a 2.6% yield.

Osterweis Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 249,175 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $32,786,000. American Water Works makes up 1.5% of Osterweis Capital Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. owned 0.13% of American Water Works at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC increased its stake in American Water Works by 82.7% in the fourth quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 21,430 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,797,000 after purchasing an additional 9,698 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of American Water Works during the first quarter valued at about $1,347,000. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR boosted its position in shares of American Water Works by 73.8% during the 4th quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR now owns 25,338 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,307,000 after purchasing an additional 10,760 shares in the last quarter. Capital Innovations LLC bought a new position in shares of American Water Works during the 4th quarter worth about $4,700,000. Finally, Erste Asset Management GmbH grew its stake in shares of American Water Works by 25.9% in the 4th quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH now owns 69,893 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $9,142,000 after buying an additional 14,363 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on AWK. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Bank of America restated a "neutral" rating on shares of American Water Works in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded American Water Works from a "strong sell" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of American Water Works from $138.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $139.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $138.78.

American Water Works Price Performance

AWK opened at $139.90 on Tuesday. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $120.57 and a 1 year high of $146.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The company has a market capitalization of $27.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.60. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $133.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $131.64.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.08. American Water Works had a net margin of 21.35% and a return on equity of 10.20%. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.48 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. American Water Works has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.020-6.120 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 6.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be paid a $0.895 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 11th. This represents a $3.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. American Water Works's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.05%.

American Water Works 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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