American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Shares Sold by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. reduced its stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 36.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 51,705 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 29,459 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $6,678,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in American Water Works in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. ORG Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 254 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the period. Tortoise Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in American Water Works by 71.9% during the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 239 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in American Water Works during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at American Water Works

In related news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.85, for a total value of $101,423.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,268,308. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Stock Down 0.8 %

AWK stock opened at $147.04 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $141.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $130.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.83, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.69. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $113.34 and a fifty-two week high of $149.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.64.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.47 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.10 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 9.60% and a net margin of 21.93%. American Water Works’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were issued a $0.765 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. American Water Works’s payout ratio is currently 62.07%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of American Water Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $127.00 to $138.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.17.

American Water Works Company 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.