Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Cuts Stock Position in American Water Works Company, Inc. $AWK

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lessened its holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 4.5% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 417,648 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 19,644 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $56,838,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 11.5% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 5,912 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $872,000 after buying an additional 609 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 40.7% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 16,466 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,429,000 after acquiring an additional 4,762 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in American Water Works in the second quarter worth about $302,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC increased its stake in American Water Works by 1.5% during the second quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 5,865 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $816,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its stake in American Water Works by 184.4% during the second quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 5,492 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $764,000 after acquiring an additional 3,561 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company set a $131.00 price objective on American Water Works in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Bank of America cut their target price on American Water Works from $147.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of American Water Works in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on American Water Works from $138.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Water Works currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $140.00.

American Water Works Trading Up 0.2%

American Water Works stock traded up $0.23 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $130.78. The stock had a trading volume of 1,679,113 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,328,022. The company has a quick ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52-week low of $120.57 and a 52-week high of $147.87. The firm has a market cap of $25.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a fifty day moving average of $126.96 and a 200 day moving average of $130.59.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.10 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.17 billion. American Water Works had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 10.20%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.05 EPS. American Water Works has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.020-6.120 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 6.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.895 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $3.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. This is an increase from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is 63.48%.

American Water Works Company Profile

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.