Norges Bank Makes New $344.65 Million Investment in American Water Works Company, Inc. $AWK

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 2,477,502 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $344,645,000. Norges Bank owned about 1.27% of American Water Works at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group bought a new stake in American Water Works during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of American Water Works in the first quarter worth $29,000. Flaharty Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Water Works during the first quarter valued at $30,000. Concord Wealth Partners bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the second quarter valued at about $29,000. 86.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AWK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of American Water Works from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the company from $114.00 to $124.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of American Water Works in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. TD Cowen began coverage on American Water Works in a report on Thursday, October 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $155.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on American Water Works in a research report on Monday, October 27th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $142.00 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on American Water Works from $156.00 to $151.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.00.

American Water Works Stock Up 0.3%

NYSE AWK opened at $130.18 on Monday. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $118.74 and a 12 month high of $155.50. The company has a market capitalization of $25.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.88, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.72. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $135.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $139.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.32.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.04. American Water Works had a net margin of 21.93% and a return on equity of 10.57%. The firm had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.36 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.80 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. American Water Works has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.700-5.750 EPS. FY 2026 guidance at 6.020-6.120 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.8275 per share. This represents a $3.31 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 13th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.17%.

American Water Works Profile

American Water Works Company, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides water and wastewater services in the United States. It offers water and wastewater services to approximately 1,700 communities in 14 states serving approximately 3.5 million active customers. The company serves residential customers; commercial customers, including food and beverage providers, commercial property developers and proprietors, and energy suppliers; fire service and private fire customers; industrial customers, such as large-scale manufacturers, mining, and production operations; public authorities comprising government buildings and other public sector facilities, such as schools and universities; and other utilities and community water and wastewater systems.