MUFG Securities EMEA plc Acquires 4,273 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. $AWK

MUFG Securities EMEA plc grew its holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 114.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 8,007 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,273 shares during the quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $1,045,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 2.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,227,049 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,650,543,000 after acquiring an additional 597,916 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 1.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,551,733 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,607,886,000 after buying an additional 120,870 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,039,122 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $655,025,000 after buying an additional 33,359 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 3.7% during the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,779,526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $386,882,000 after buying an additional 98,042 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 2,639,521 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $344,462,000 after buying an additional 22,827 shares in the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on American Water Works from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 29th. Barclays increased their price objective on American Water Works from $122.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report 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. Wells Fargo & Company set a $131.00 price objective on American Water Works in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, UBS Group upgraded American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $137.00 to $140.00 in a report on Friday. Two equities research 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 MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $138.11.

American Water Works News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting American Water Works this week:

• Positive Sentiment: American Water completed its $315 million purchase of Nexus Water Group systems across eight states, adding about 47,000 customers and expanding its regulated footprint, which could support long-term revenue and earnings growth. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The company reiterated its acquisition-led expansion strategy alongside a planned $3.7 billion 2026 capital spending program, reinforcing expectations for continued infrastructure investment and regulated asset growth.
• Neutral Sentiment: American Water also highlighted its participation in industry discussions on affordability at the Western Conference of Public Service Commissioners, which underscores its regulatory focus but is unlikely to be a direct near-term catalyst.
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent commentary about AWK’s valuation and share-price weakness suggests investors are still weighing the stock’s premium utility valuation against its slower near-term price momentum.
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the acquisition news, the stock has recently underperformed peers, indicating some lingering market skepticism about execution, financing, or near-term upside.

American Water Works Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AWK opened at $123.56 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $130.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $131.04. 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.13 billion, a PE ratio of 21.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.62.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by ($0.09). American Water Works had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 10.20%. The firm had revenue of $1.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.05 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. American Water Works has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.020-6.120 EPS. Analysts predict that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 6.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th were given 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. 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.