American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Position Increased by Meeder Advisory Services Inc.

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 21.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,917 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 697 shares during the quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $506,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in American Water Works during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. ORG Partners LLC acquired a new position in American Water Works during the second quarter valued at $30,000. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its stake in American Water Works by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 254 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC boosted its position 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 during the period. 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.

American Water Works Price Performance

AWK opened at $148.13 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $141.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $130.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $113.34 and a 1 year high of $149.00. The stock has a market cap of $28.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.05, a PEG ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.69.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.47 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.10 billion. American Water Works had a net margin of 21.93% and a return on equity of 9.60%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. Analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.27 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 13th were paid a $0.765 dividend. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 13th. American Water Works’s payout ratio is presently 62.07%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Water Works news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.85, for a total transaction of $101,423.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,880 shares in the company, valued at $5,268,308. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of American Water Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $127.00 to $138.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $135.60.

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.