Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Buys 5,974 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. $AWK

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise grew its stake in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 316.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,860 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,974 shares during the quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $1,070,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in American Water Works by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,219,816 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $290,729,000 after purchasing an additional 47,977 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc lifted its holdings in American Water Works by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 489,371 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $63,863,000 after buying an additional 47,352 shares during the period. TSP Capital Management Group LLC bought a new stake in American Water Works in the fourth quarter valued at $1,559,000. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 82.7% during the 4th quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 21,430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,797,000 after purchasing an additional 9,698 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Country Trust Bank increased its position in shares of American Water Works by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Country Trust Bank now owns 178,599 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $23,307,000 after buying an additional 11,401 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $137.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $147.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Wells Fargo & Company set a $131.00 price objective on shares of American Water Works in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of American Water Works from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 26th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of American Water Works from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $138.11.

American Water Works Stock Performance

Shares of American Water Works stock opened at $132.34 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $25.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.46, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.62. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $126.81 and its 200 day moving average is $130.46. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $120.57 and a 1 year high of $147.87. 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 (NYSE:AWK) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.05 earnings per share. American Water Works has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.020-6.120 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 6.08 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 given a dividend of $0.895 per share. This represents a $3.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. This is an increase from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 12th. American Water Works’s payout ratio is 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.