Fifth Third Bancorp Boosts Stock Position in American Water Works Company, Inc. $AWK

Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 116.0% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 63,035 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 33,848 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $8,578,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

American Water Works Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of AWK opened at $129.17 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $25.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.61. 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 Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $120.57 and a 1 year high of $147.87. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $127.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $130.59.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last issued 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.17 billion. American Water Works had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 10.20%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.05 EPS. American Water Works has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.020-6.120 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 6.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.895 per share. This represents a $3.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 12th. This is a boost from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. American Water Works’s payout ratio is currently 63.48%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company set a $131.00 price objective on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Truist Financial cut 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 research report on Friday, May 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of American Water Works from $138.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of American Water Works from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Water Works has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $140.60.

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.