OP Asset Management Ltd Acquires Shares of 20,083 American Water Works Company, Inc. $AWK

OP Asset Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 20,083 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,733,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 11.5% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 5,912 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $872,000 after acquiring an additional 609 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP raised its stake in shares of American Water Works by 40.7% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 16,466 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,429,000 after purchasing an additional 4,762 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the second quarter valued at approximately $302,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of American Water Works by 1.5% during the second quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 5,865 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $816,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lifted its position in shares of American Water Works by 184.4% during the second quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 5,492 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $764,000 after purchasing an additional 3,561 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Price Performance

AWK opened at $132.34 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $126.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $130.46. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $120.57 and a fifty-two week high of $147.87. The firm has a market cap of $25.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 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 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $1.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.17 billion. American Water Works had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 10.20%. The business’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.05 earnings per share. American Water Works has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.020-6.120 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 6.08 earnings per share for the current year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $3.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. This is an increase from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. American Water Works’s payout ratio is presently 63.48%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AWK. Barclays raised their price target on shares of American Water Works from $122.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. UBS Group upgraded shares of American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $137.00 to $140.00 in a report on Friday, May 29th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $147.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Truist Financial lowered their target price on American Water Works from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Water Works has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $138.11.

American Water Works Profile

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.