American Water Works Company, Inc. $AWK Stake Raised by LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.

LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. boosted its holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 144.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,729 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,703 shares during the quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $2,049,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group purchased a new position in American Water Works in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new position in American Water Works in the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Flaharty Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in American Water Works in the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in American Water Works in the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new position in American Water Works in the 1st quarter worth about $48,000. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AWK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays dropped their price target on American Water Works from $138.00 to $128.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on American Water Works from $147.00 to $141.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. UBS Group lowered their target price on American Water Works from $156.00 to $151.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Argus lifted their target price on American Water Works from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $141.13.

American Water Works Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of American Water Works stock opened at $137.97 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $26.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.86, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.32. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52-week low of $118.74 and a 52-week high of $155.50. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $140.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $142.15.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.22 billion. American Water Works had a net margin of 21.91% and a return on equity of 10.34%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.42 earnings per share. American Water Works has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.700-5.750 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $0.8275 per share. This represents a $3.31 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 12th. American Water Works’s payout ratio is currently 59.64%.

About American Water Works

American Water Works Company, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides water and wastewater services in the United States. It offers water and wastewater services to approximately 1,700 communities in 14 states serving approximately 3.5 million active customers. The company serves residential customers; commercial customers, including food and beverage providers, commercial property developers and proprietors, and energy suppliers; fire service and private fire customers; industrial customers, such as large-scale manufacturers, mining, and production operations; public authorities comprising government buildings and other public sector facilities, such as schools and universities; and other utilities and community water and wastewater systems.