Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Acquires 23,642 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. $AWK

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) by 17.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 160,146 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 23,642 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd owned approximately 0.08% of American Water Works worth $20,899,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AWK. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,227,049 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,650,543,000 after purchasing an additional 597,916 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in American Water Works by 1.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,551,733 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,607,886,000 after buying an additional 120,870 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in American Water Works by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,779,526 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $386,882,000 after acquiring an additional 98,042 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its position in American Water Works by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 2,639,521 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $344,462,000 after acquiring an additional 22,827 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 383.0% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 2,596,125 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $361,355,000 after acquiring an additional 2,058,656 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on AWK. Truist Financial assumed coverage on American Water Works in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. They issued a "hold" rating and a $137.00 target price for the company. Barclays upped their price target on American Water Works from $122.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Bank of America upgraded shares of American Water Works from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $117.00 to $139.00 in a report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of American Water Works from a "strong sell" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Sunday, April 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $140.44.

American Water Works Stock Down 0.6%

AWK stock opened at $126.08 on Wednesday. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $121.28 and a twelve month high of $150.51. 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 has a market cap of $24.62 billion, a PE ratio of 22.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a 50 day moving average of $134.99 and a 200 day moving average of $132.43.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.01 EPS 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.05 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. American Water Works has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.020-6.120 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.895 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 12th. This is a positive change from American Water Works's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. American Water Works's dividend payout ratio is currently 58.69%.

About American Water Works

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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