American Water Works Company, Inc. $AWK Stock: Cooper Investors PTY Ltd. Cuts Stake

Cooper Investors PTY Ltd. lowered its holdings in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 69.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,497 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,684 shares during the quarter. Cooper Investors PTY Ltd.’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $323,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of American Water Works in the second quarter worth approximately $2,712,173,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in American Water Works by 35.2% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,911,963 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,962,116,000 after buying an additional 3,883,057 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC bought a new position in American Water Works in the second quarter worth approximately $1,171,477,000. Amundi raised its position in American Water Works by 4.3% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 4,351,056 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $592,081,000 after acquiring an additional 179,127 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in American Water Works in the second quarter worth approximately $443,787,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AWK. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. 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. Wall Street Zen raised American Water Works from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on American Water Works from $138.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on American Water Works from $156.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $140.11.

American Water Works Stock Performance

American Water Works stock traded up $0.59 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $130.14. The stock had a trading volume of 1,818,217 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,000,220. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $135.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $132.03. The company has a market capitalization of $25.86 billion, a PE ratio of 22.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.58. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52-week low of $120.57 and a 52-week high of $145.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.33 billion. American Water Works had a net margin of 21.35% and a return on equity of 10.20%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.48 earnings per share. 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 year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th were paid a $0.8950 dividend. This represents a $3.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 11th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.05%.

American Water Works Company Profile

American Water Works Company, Inc is a public water and wastewater utility that provides essential services to residential, commercial, industrial, and governmental customers in the United States. Through its regulated operations, the company collects, treats, distributes, and manages drinking water, as well as collects and treats wastewater.

The company also provides services through businesses that support utilities, municipalities, military installations, and other public-sector customers.