Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 6,024 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. $AWK

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 2.6% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 226,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,024 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $30,886,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AWK. Reflection Asset Management acquired a new stake in American Water Works in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its position in American Water Works by 71.7% during the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 194 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Ascentis Independent Advisors acquired a new position in American Water Works during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 82.6% in the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 199 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nemes Rush Group LLC bought a new position in shares of American Water Works in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

American Water Works Price Performance

American Water Works stock opened at $135.08 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.95, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.61. The business has a 50-day moving average of $127.56 and a 200-day moving average of $130.64. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $120.57 and a 1 year high of $147.87.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.05 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter 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, equities analysts anticipate that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 6.09 EPS for the current year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th were paid a $0.895 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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 yield of 2.7%. American Water Works’s payout ratio is presently 63.48%.

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.