4,318 Shares in American Water Works Company, Inc. $AWK Acquired by Lazard Asset Management LLC

Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 4,318 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $588,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AWK. Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 71.7% during the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 194 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Faithward Advisors LLC lifted its stake in American Water Works by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Faithward Advisors LLC now owns 1,602 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $223,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC lifted its stake in American Water Works by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 13,108 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,711,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC boosted its position in American Water Works by 1.5% during the 2nd 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 period. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 5,121 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $668,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. 86.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Water Works Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE:AWK opened at $134.65 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $130.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $131.07. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $120.57 and a 52 week high of $147.87. The company has a market capitalization of $26.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.52.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.33 billion. American Water Works had a net margin of 21.35% and a return on equity of 10.20%. The company’s revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.48 earnings per share. American Water Works has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.020-6.120 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 6.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be issued a $0.895 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 11th. This represents a $3.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of American Water Works from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $131.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Truist Financial set a $139.00 price target on shares of American Water Works in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of American Water Works from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Water Works currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $140.90.

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.