Corient Private Wealth LLC Grows Stock Position in American Water Works Company, Inc. $AWK

Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 18.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 93,412 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,693 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $12,196,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in American Water Works by 3,274.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,092,757 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $925,605,000 after purchasing an additional 6,882,575 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of American Water Works in the fourth quarter worth approximately $337,004,000. GQG Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of American Water Works by 64.2% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 6,493,161 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $847,361,000 after buying an additional 2,539,683 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in shares of American Water Works by 383.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 2,596,125 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $361,355,000 after buying an additional 2,058,656 shares during the period. Finally, Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its holdings in American Water Works by 38.0% during the 4th quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 2,386,873 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $311,487,000 after buying an additional 657,849 shares during the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on AWK shares. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of American Water Works from $147.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Wells Fargo & Company set a $131.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Barclays raised their target price 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded American Water Works from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, April 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $138.11.

American Water Works Stock Performance

Shares of AWK opened at $126.77 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.34. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a one year low of $120.57 and a one year high of $147.87. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $126.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $130.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.76 billion, a PE ratio of 22.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.62.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by ($0.09). American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 21.17%.The firm had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.05 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. 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 6.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th were paid a $0.895 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 12th. This is a positive change from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. American Water Works’s payout ratio is currently 63.48%.

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.