54,965 American Water Works Company, Inc. $AWK Shares Purchased by Sterling Capital Management LLC

Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 934.3% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 60,848 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 54,965 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $7,878,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of American Water Works by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,199 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $158,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. CoreCap Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of American Water Works by 21.1% during the third quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 453 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank raised its position in shares of American Water Works by 2.9% in the third quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 2,945 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $381,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in American Water Works by 13.7% in the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 806 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $106,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co boosted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 10,672 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,452,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Truist Financial set a $139.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of American Water Works from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 19th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of American Water Works from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of American Water Works from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $162.00 to $153.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $136.75.

American Water Works Stock Performance

NYSE AWK traded down $0.40 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $142.83. 1,978,040 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,881,741. 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 company has a market cap of $28.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.58. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $120.57 and a 12-month high of $144.14. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $135.13 and a 200 day moving average of $131.97.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%. American Water Works’s revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.48 earnings per share. American Water Works has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.020-6.120 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 6.08 earnings per share for the current year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 11th were issued a $0.8950 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 11th. This represents a $3.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.05%.

American Water Works Company Profile

American Water Works Company, Inc is a public water and wastewater utility that provides essential services to residential, commercial, industrial and institutional customers. Through its regulated businesses, the company supplies drinking water, collects and treats wastewater, and manages related infrastructure, including treatment plants, pipelines, storage facilities and customer service systems.

Founded in 1886, American Water has grown into one of the largest water and wastewater service providers in the United States.