Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Invests $1.88 Million in American Water Works Company, Inc. $AWK

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 14,303 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,882,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of AWK. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of American Water Works in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,712,173,000. GQG Partners LLC acquired a new position in American Water Works in the second quarter valued at $1,171,477,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 3,274.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,092,757 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $925,605,000 after purchasing an additional 6,882,575 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of American Water Works in the 2nd quarter valued at about $443,787,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the 2nd quarter worth about $367,632,000. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Water Works Stock Performance

Shares of AWK stock opened at $138.19 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.95, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.60. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a one year low of $120.57 and a one year high of $145.64. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $134.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $131.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.52.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.08. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 21.35%.The business had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.48 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. American Water Works has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.020-6.120 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 6.09 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, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be given a $0.895 dividend. 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 currently 62.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AWK has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of American Water Works from $138.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of American Water Works from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on American Water Works from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $138.78.

About American Water Works

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.