Magellan Asset Management Ltd Has $29.47 Million Position in American Water Works Company, Inc. $AWK

Magellan Asset Management Ltd grew its stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 22.0% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 216,574 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 39,095 shares during the period. Magellan Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $29,474,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in American Water Works by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,037,823 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,570,936,000 after acquiring an additional 486,090 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in American Water Works by 3,274.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,092,757 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $925,605,000 after purchasing an additional 6,882,575 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC increased its stake in American Water Works by 64.2% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 6,493,161 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $847,361,000 after purchasing an additional 2,539,683 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised 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 during the period. Finally, Amundi raised its holdings in American Water Works by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 4,171,929 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $544,420,000 after purchasing an additional 275,511 shares during the period. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. 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. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $131.00 target price on American Water Works in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on American Water Works from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $140.60.

American Water Works Stock Performance

Shares of AWK stock opened at $131.43 on Wednesday. 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. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $127.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $130.67. The company has a market capitalization of $25.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.61.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 10.20%. The company had revenue of $1.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.05 EPS. The firm’s quarterly 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, analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 6.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th were given a $0.895 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $3.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. This is an increase from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. 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.