Legal & General Group Plc Buys Shares of 3,372,753 American Water Works Company, Inc. $AWK

Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 3,372,753 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $443,787,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AWK. Reflection Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of American Water Works by 82.6% in the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 199 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Water Works in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Ascentis Independent Advisors acquired a new position in shares of American Water Works in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Price Performance

AWK stock opened at $137.58 on Wednesday. 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 company’s 50-day moving average is $133.40 and its 200-day moving average is $131.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.34 billion, a PE ratio of 23.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.60. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $120.57 and a 1 year high of $145.64.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.48 EPS. The firm’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 research analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 6.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on AWK. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target 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. Truist Financial set a $139.00 price target on American Water Works in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Barclays raised their price objective 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, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of American Water Works from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Water Works 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.