Country Trust Bank Sells 66,116 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. $AWK

Country Trust Bank cut its stake in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 26.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 182,657 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 66,116 shares during the period. Country Trust Bank owned about 0.09% of American Water Works worth $25,409,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Obermeyer Wealth Partners increased its holdings in American Water Works by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Obermeyer Wealth Partners now owns 2,280 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $317,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 5.4% during the second quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,558 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $217,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 5.0% during the first quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,726 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Fortune Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of American Water Works by 5.9% in the second quarter. Fortune Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,573 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $219,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in American Water Works by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,167 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $162,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on AWK shares. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of American Water Works from $128.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of American Water Works from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $114.00 to $124.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. TD Cowen started coverage on American Water Works in a report on Thursday, October 16th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $155.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, Argus upped their price target on American Water Works from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, American Water Works presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.00.

American Water Works Trading Down 0.8%

AWK opened at $130.40 on Wednesday. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $118.74 and a twelve month high of $155.50. The company has a fifty day moving average of $135.48 and a 200-day moving average of $139.48. The stock has a market cap of $25.44 billion, a PE ratio of 22.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.04. American Water Works had a net margin of 21.93% and a return on equity of 10.57%. The business had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.36 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.80 earnings per share. American Water Works’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. American Water Works has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.700-5.750 EPS. FY 2026 guidance at 6.020-6.120 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 EPS for the current year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, November 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.8275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 13th. This represents a $3.31 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.17%.

American Water Works Profile

American Water Works Company, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides water and wastewater services in the United States. It offers water and wastewater services to approximately 1,700 communities in 14 states serving approximately 3.5 million active customers. The company serves residential customers; commercial customers, including food and beverage providers, commercial property developers and proprietors, and energy suppliers; fire service and private fire customers; industrial customers, such as large-scale manufacturers, mining, and production operations; public authorities comprising government buildings and other public sector facilities, such as schools and universities; and other utilities and community water and wastewater systems.