Victory Capital Management Inc. Has $341.33 Million Position in American Water Works Company, Inc. $AWK

Key Points

• Victory Capital Management trimmed its stake in American Water Works by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, but still held 2.62 million shares valued at about $341.3 million.
• American Water Works reported Q1 earnings of $1.01 per share, missing analyst expectations, though revenue came in above estimates 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 2.8%, while analysts’ consensus rating remains Hold with an average price target of $138.11.

Victory Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,615,518 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 120,688 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 1.34% of American Water Works worth $341,325,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 597,916 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted 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 purchasing an additional 120,870 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,039,122 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $655,025,000 after purchasing an additional 33,359 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 3.7% during the third 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 during the period. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 0.9% during the fourth 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 during the period. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Water Works Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of AWK opened at $126.25 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $128.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $130.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.37. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.10 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.17 billion. American Water Works had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 10.20%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.05 EPS. American Water Works has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.020-6.120 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 6.09 earnings per share for the current year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th were given a $0.895 dividend. This represents a $3.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. This is a boost from American Water Works's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 12th. American Water Works's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.48%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on AWK shares. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of American Water Works from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 29th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of American Water Works from $122.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $147.00 to $134.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $138.11.

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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