Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Acquires New Holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. $AWK

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. bought a new position 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. The institutional investor bought 4,731 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $623,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in American Water Works in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,712,173,000. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,037,823 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,570,936,000 after purchasing an additional 486,090 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of American Water Works in the second quarter worth $1,171,477,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of American Water Works by 3,274.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,092,757 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $925,605,000 after buying an additional 6,882,575 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of American Water Works by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,039,122 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $655,025,000 after buying an additional 33,359 shares in the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Water Works Trading Down 1.7%

NYSE AWK opened at $137.58 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $133.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $131.73. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $120.57 and a twelve month high of $145.64. The company has a market capitalization of $27.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.84, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.60.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.33 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 21.35%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.48 EPS. American Water Works has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.020-6.120 EPS. Research analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 6.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The company 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 $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 is currently 62.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Wall Street Zen raised American Water Works from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. UBS Group raised their price target on American Water Works from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Truist Financial set a $139.00 price target on American Water Works in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on American Water Works from $124.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.