Federated Hermes Inc. Sells 12,512 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Federated Hermes Inc. trimmed its stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 20.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 49,392 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 12,512 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $6,379,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of American Water Works by 2.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,648,326 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,012,272,000 after purchasing an additional 624,977 shares during the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its stake in American Water Works by 3.7% in the second quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 6,902,257 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $890,422,000 after buying an additional 247,745 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in American Water Works by 1.2% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,143,437 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $261,949,000 after buying an additional 25,887 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in American Water Works in the fourth quarter worth approximately $275,476,000. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its stake in American Water Works by 945.5% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 1,806,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $238,397,000 after buying an additional 1,633,389 shares in the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Water Works Stock Performance

NYSE:AWK opened at $149.88 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $142.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $131.26. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $113.34 and a fifty-two week high of $150.68. The firm has a market cap of $29.20 billion, a PE ratio of 30.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.69. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by ($0.05). American Water Works had a return on equity of 9.60% and a net margin of 21.93%. The business had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.44 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.27 earnings per share for the current year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.04%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.07%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Water Works news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 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 the SEC website. 0.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.