American Water Works Company, Inc. $AWK Position Increased by Welch & Forbes LLC

Welch & Forbes LLC lifted its position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 11.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 51,373 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,196 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $6,953,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in American Water Works during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,712,173,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in American Water Works by 35.2% in 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 acquiring an additional 3,883,057 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC acquired a new stake in American Water Works in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,171,477,000. Amundi grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 179,127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in American Water Works in the second quarter worth $443,787,000. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AWK. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Mizuho set a $149.00 price objective on American Water Works in a research report on Friday, October 30th. UBS Group downgraded American Water Works from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $153.00 to $162.00 in a research note on Friday. Truist Financial set a $139.00 target price on American Water Works in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised American Water Works from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.14.

American Water Works Stock Performance

Shares of American Water Works stock opened at $149.19 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $136.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $132.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.86, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $120.57 and a 52 week high of $153.69.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.04 by ($0.04). American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.14% and a net margin of 21.26%. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.94 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 6.09 EPS for the current year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.8950 per share. This represents a $3.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 12th. American Water Works’s payout ratio is presently 62.05%.

American Water Works Company Profile

American Water Works Company, Inc is a U.S. water and wastewater utility that provides services to residential, commercial, industrial, and public-sector customers. Its operations include treating and distributing drinking water, collecting and treating wastewater, and maintaining the infrastructure needed to deliver those services.

The company operates regulated water and wastewater utilities across multiple states, serving communities in regions including the Northeast, Midwest, and South.