Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Has $2.98 Million Stock Position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 14.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 23,076 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,827 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $2,980,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AWK. Norges Bank bought a new position in American Water Works during the 4th quarter worth $275,476,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its position in shares of American Water Works by 945.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,633,389 shares during the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its position in shares of American Water Works by 12,816.0% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,464,674 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $189,177,000 after acquiring an additional 1,453,334 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc acquired a new position in shares of American Water Works in the first quarter worth approximately $108,688,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 valued at $3,012,272,000 after acquiring an additional 624,977 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $135.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

American Water Works Stock Performance

AWK stock opened at $148.97 on Thursday. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $113.34 and a 1-year high of $150.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $142.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $131.38. The firm has a market cap of $29.02 billion, a PE ratio of 30.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.69.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.10 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 9.60% and a net margin of 21.93%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.27 earnings per share for the current year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 13th were paid a dividend of $0.765 per share. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 13th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.07%.

About American Water Works

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.