8,903,133 Shares in American Water Works Company, Inc. $AWK Bought by GQG Partners LLC

GQG Partners LLC purchased a new stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 8,903,133 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,171,477,000. American Water Works makes up approximately 2.2% of GQG Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Empowered Funds LLC increased 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 worth $872,000 after buying an additional 609 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP lifted its position in shares of American Water Works by 40.7% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 16,466 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,429,000 after acquiring an additional 4,762 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Water Works in the second quarter valued at approximately $302,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC boosted its stake 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 last quarter. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL boosted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 184.4% in the second quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 5,492 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $764,000 after acquiring an additional 3,561 shares during the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on AWK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on American Water Works from $138.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of American Water Works from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of American Water Works from $124.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $138.78.

American Water Works Stock Performance

American Water Works stock opened at $135.66 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $132.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $131.50. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $120.57 and a 1-year high of $147.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market cap of $26.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.60.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.33 billion. American Water Works had a net margin of 21.35% and a return on equity of 10.20%. The business’s revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.48 EPS. American Water Works has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.020-6.120 EPS. On average, analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 6.09 EPS for the current year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.895 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 11th. This represents a $3.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.05%.

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.