American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.09 EPS

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The utilities provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.10 by ($0.09), FiscalAI reports. The company had revenue of $1.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.28 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.38% and a net margin of 21.61%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.05 earnings per share. American Water Works updated its FY 2026 guidance to 6.020-6.120 EPS.

American Water Works Price Performance

American Water Works stock traded down $5.71 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $126.26. The stock had a trading volume of 1,599,699 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,822,213. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $135.11 and its 200 day moving average is $132.69. American Water Works has a one year low of $121.28 and a one year high of $150.51.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be issued a $0.895 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $3.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. This is an increase from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. American Water Works’s payout ratio is currently 58.17%.

American Water Works News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting American Water Works this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Board raised the quarterly cash dividend 8.2% to $0.895 per share (payable June), supporting income investors and signaling confidence in cash flow. American Water Announces Dividend Increase
• Positive Sentiment: Company highlights continued customer/revenue growth drivers — acquisitions, new rate filings and pending deals that should support medium-term top-line expansion. American Water Works Q1 Earnings Lag Estimates, Revenues Rise Y/Y
• Neutral Sentiment: Management affirmed FY2026 EPS guidance of $6.02–$6.12, broadly in line with consensus (consensus ~6.09), which removes downside surprise but wasn’t enough to offset the quarterly miss. AMERICAN WATER REPORTS FIRST QUARTER 2026 RESULTS ON TRACK; AFFIRMS 2026 EPS GUIDANCE AND LONG-TERM TARGETS
• Neutral Sentiment: Company completed a $700M senior note offering (5.200% due 2036); this strengthens liquidity but increases long-term debt — watch leverage metrics and use of proceeds. AMERICAN WATER REPORTS FIRST QUARTER 2026 RESULTS ON TRACK; AFFIRMS 2026 EPS GUIDANCE AND LONG-TERM TARGETS
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings call transcript available for more color on drivers (rate timing, M&A, merger-related items) — useful for assessing whether misses are one-time or persistent. American Water Works Company, Inc. (AWK) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Q1 adjusted EPS of $1.01 missed consensus (~$1.10) and revenue of $1.21B missed expectations (~$1.28B); the shortfall — combined with transaction costs tied to the proposed Essential Utilities deal and incremental interest items — is the main driver of the stock’s pullback. American Water Works (AWK) Q1 Earnings Miss Estimates

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on AWK shares. Wells Fargo & Company set a $131.00 price objective on American Water Works in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Bank of America upgraded American Water Works from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $117.00 to $139.00 in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Barclays upped their price objective on American Water Works from $122.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded American Water Works from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.20.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 82.6% in the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 199 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. DV Equities LLC bought a new position in American Water Works in the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych PZU SA boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 81.3% in the 4th quarter. Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych PZU SA now owns 290 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in American Water Works in the 2nd quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 141.7% in the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 394 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 231 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

About American Water Works

American Water Works Company, Inc (NYSE: AWK) is a publicly traded utility company that provides water and wastewater services in the United States. Its core business is the operation, management and maintenance of regulated water and wastewater systems that deliver potable water, collect and treat wastewater, and provide related customer services to residential, commercial and industrial customers as well as municipalities. The company’s operations include water treatment and distribution, wastewater collection and treatment, meter reading and billing, emergency repairs, and long-term infrastructure planning and capital project execution.

In addition to its regulated utility operations, American Water offers complementary nonregulated services and solutions that support system reliability and customer needs.