American Water Works Company, Inc. $AWK Stock Sold by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System cut its stake in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 190,824 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,697 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $25,007,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AWK. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of American Water Works in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,712,173,000. GQG Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,171,477,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in American Water Works by 35.2% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,911,963 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,962,116,000 after acquiring an additional 3,883,057 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in American Water Works during the 2nd quarter worth $443,787,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in American Water Works during the 2nd quarter worth $367,632,000. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting American Water Works

Here are a few of the latest headlines about AWK:

• Positive Sentiment: Argus raised its price target on AWK to $165 from $155 and reiterated a “buy” rating. The higher target signals improved analyst optimism and implies about 10.4% upside from the cited $149.48 share price. Argus rating information
• Neutral Sentiment: Tennessee American Water applied additional PFAS settlement proceeds as customer bill credits, bringing total credits to more than $84 per customer. The settlement reflects proceeds from manufacturers, but distributing the funds to customers is not an evident near-term earnings catalyst. Tennessee PFAS settlement credit
• Neutral Sentiment: American Water launched a redesigned customer website intended to simplify access to services and support. The improvement may benefit customer experience, but no financial impact was disclosed. American Water digital experience announcement

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AWK. Huntington cut American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 5th. Truist Financial set a $139.00 price target on American Water Works in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Mizuho set a $149.00 price target on American Water Works in a report on Friday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on American Water Works from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $144.12.

American Water Works Price Performance

AWK stock opened at $149.48 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $137.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $133.15. The company has a market capitalization of $29.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.91, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.56. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52-week low of $120.57 and a 52-week high of $153.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.39.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.94 EPS. American Water Works’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 6.09 EPS for the current year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 12th will be given a dividend of $0.8950 per share. This represents a $3.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 12th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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. Through contracted operations, it also provides water and wastewater services to certain military installations and municipal customers.