US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK – Free Report) by 12.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 57,039 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,485 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $7,529,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its stake in shares of American Water Works by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 5,624,759 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $695,850,000 after purchasing an additional 129,005 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in American Water Works by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,591,939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $444,790,000 after buying an additional 124,815 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in American Water Works by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,974,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $368,336,000 after buying an additional 32,975 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in American Water Works by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,831,622 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $350,640,000 after buying an additional 267,987 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its stake in American Water Works by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,624,871 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $325,038,000 after buying an additional 118,221 shares in the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
American Water Works Stock Down 0.3 %
AWK opened at $128.23 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $123.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $125.76. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $113.34 and a 52 week high of $151.22. The company has a market capitalization of $24.98 billion, a PE ratio of 26.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.
American Water Works (NYSE:AWK – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.98 by ($0.03). American Water Works had a net margin of 22.27% and a return on equity of 9.74%. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $962.30 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.91 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
American Water Works Increases Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 14th will be issued a $0.765 dividend. This is an increase from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 13th. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.39%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.07%.
Insider Activity at American Water Works
In related news, EVP Melanie M. Kennedy sold 843 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.59, for a total value of $100,814.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,942,141.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI lowered American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $160.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Friday, February 16th. StockNews.com lowered American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $124.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Water Works presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $141.33.
Get Our Latest Research Report on AWK
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.
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