Vanguard Group Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. $AWK

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 2.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 26,227,049 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 597,916 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 13.44% of American Water Works worth $3,650,543,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. American National Bank & Trust purchased a new position in American Water Works in the third quarter worth $26,000. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. purchased a new position in American Water Works during the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in American Water Works during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Cloud Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in American Water Works during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Trading Down 1.8%

AWK stock opened at $131.14 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $129.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $134.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52-week low of $121.28 and a 52-week high of $155.50. The firm has a market cap of $25.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.05, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.77.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by ($0.04). American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.48% and a net margin of 21.93%.The business had revenue of $1.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.15 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. American Water Works has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.020-6.120 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 10th will be issued a $0.8275 dividend. This represents a $3.31 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 10th. American Water Works’s payout ratio is presently 58.17%.

Key Stories Impacting American Water Works

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

• Positive Sentiment: Company reaffirmed and nudged FY?2026 EPS guidance to a range of 6.020–6.120 (above the ~5.95 consensus) and maintained long?term EPS/dividend growth targets — a signal of management confidence in forward earnings power. PR Newswire Release
• Positive Sentiment: Strong 2025 results: adjusted full?year EPS rose (ex?items) vs prior year, dividend increased ~8.2%, $3.2B of capex invested and the company repaid a $795M secured seller note — supports cash?flow outlook and growth investment thesis. PR Newswire Release
• Neutral Sentiment: Water?utility sector commentary sees AWK among companies positioned to benefit from steady customer bases and ongoing infrastructure spending — a supportive industry backdrop but not a short?term catalyst. Zacks Industry Piece
• Neutral Sentiment: Unrelated macro/bond commentary circulated (lightly referenced in feeds) and is unlikely to materially affect AWK’s fundamentals in the near term. MarketBeat Article
• Negative Sentiment: Q4 results missed estimates: EPS $1.24 vs. consensus ~$1.28 and revenue $1.27B vs. ~$1.29B; Reuters and Zacks flag higher expenses as a driver of the miss — a typical trigger for near?term share weakness as investors reprice short?term growth/expense risk. Zacks Earnings Note Reuters Summary

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AWK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of American Water Works from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $114.00 to $124.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. UBS Group set a $149.00 price target on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $134.00 to $122.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Bank of America raised American Water Works from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $117.00 to $139.00 in a research report on Monday, January 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $140.89.

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.