American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Shares Sold by Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC

Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC reduced its position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 23.6% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 401 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 124 shares during the quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $49,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AWK. MV Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in American Water Works by 110.8% during the fourth quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 196 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in American Water Works during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. ORG Partners LLC increased its holdings in American Water Works by 79.2% in the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 233 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its position in American Water Works by 71.9% in the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 239 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 100.0% during the first quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 254 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of American Water Works stock opened at $128.51 on Wednesday. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $113.34 and a 1-year high of $151.22. The company has a market capitalization of $25.04 billion, a PE ratio of 26.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The business has a 50-day moving average of $129.22 and a 200-day moving average of $125.48.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $962.30 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.91 EPS. American Water Works’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 14th were paid a $0.765 dividend. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 13th. This is a positive change from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. American Water Works’s payout ratio is 62.07%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AWK. UBS Group increased their target price on American Water Works from $124.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.33.

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.