American Water Works Company, Inc. $AWK Stock: Russell Investments Group Ltd. Grows Stake

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 26.7% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 729,309 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 153,627 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $94,424,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in American Water Works in the second quarter worth $2,712,173,000. GQG Partners LLC acquired a new position in American Water Works during the second quarter worth $1,171,477,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised 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 in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in American Water Works during the second quarter valued at about $443,787,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in American Water Works during the second quarter valued at about $367,632,000. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AWK. Weiss Ratings raised American Water Works from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, November 2nd. Truist Financial set a $139.00 price target on American Water Works in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Huntington lowered American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 5th. Wall Street Zen raised American Water Works from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Mizuho set a $149.00 price objective on American Water Works in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Two equities 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Water Works presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $144.12.

Latest American Water Works News

These are some of the AWK news items that stood out recently:

• Positive Sentiment: Stone County voters approved the sale of a public water system to Missouri American Water. The approval could support customer-base growth, though the announcement provides no transaction value or expected earnings contribution. Stone County Approves Water-System Sale to Missouri American Water
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent coverage discussed AWK’s dividend, a refreshed customer portal, and website-related signals, but the provided headlines do not indicate a material change to the company’s financial outlook. American Water Works Dividend Analysis American Water Works Refreshes Its Portal
• Negative Sentiment: A valuation article said AWK could be 31% overvalued even after merger approval, a potential concern for investors weighing the stock’s upside against its current valuation. American Water Works Stock Could Be 31% Overvalued

American Water Works Stock Performance

Shares of American Water Works stock traded up $1.97 on Friday, reaching $149.55. The stock had a trading volume of 1,261,144 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,103,428. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $137.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $133.33. 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 Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $120.57 and a fifty-two week high of $153.69. The stock has a market cap of $29.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.56.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.94 earnings per share. American Water Works’s quarterly revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 6.09 EPS for the current year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 12th will be given a dividend of $0.8950 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 12th. This represents a $3.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. American Water Works’s payout ratio is currently 62.05%.

American Water Works 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.