Sei Investments Co. Purchases 23,796 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. $AWK

Key Points

• Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in American Water Works by 3.8% in Q1, buying 23,796 more shares and bringing its total holding to 644,238 shares worth about $87.7 million.
• American Water Works reported Q1 earnings of $1.01 per share, missing analyst expectations, though revenue came in above forecasts at $1.21 billion and rose 5.7% year over year.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.895 per share, equal to an annualized yield of about 2.7%, while Wall Street currently has a consensus Hold rating with an average price target of $140.60.

Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) by 3.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 644,238 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 23,796 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co. owned approximately 0.33% of American Water Works worth $87,672,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its stake in American Water Works by 71.7% in the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 194 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Reflection Asset Management purchased a new stake in American Water Works during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in American Water Works by 82.6% during the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 199 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC bought a new stake in American Water Works during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Ascentis Independent Advisors bought a new stake in American Water Works during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Water Works Stock Performance

AWK opened at $134.80 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $26.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $128.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $130.75. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52-week low of $120.57 and a 52-week high of $147.87.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.10 by ($0.09). American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 21.17%.The company had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.17 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.05 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. American Water Works has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.020-6.120 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 6.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 an increase from American Water Works's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 12th. American Water Works's payout ratio is currently 63.48%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AWK. Barclays upped their price objective on American Water Works from $124.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Bank of America reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of American Water Works from $138.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $131.00 price target on shares of American Water Works in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $140.60.

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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