American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Shares Purchased by Benjamin Edwards Inc.

Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 0.8% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 28,531 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the quarter. American Water Works accounts for 0.7% of Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $3,685,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AWK. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in American Water Works during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. ORG Partners LLC purchased a new position in American Water Works during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its position in American Water Works by 100.0% during the first quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 254 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its position in American Water Works by 71.9% during the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 239 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $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 fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on AWK shares. Wolfe Research upgraded American Water Works to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company cut American Water Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $127.00 to $138.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $140.33.

American Water Works Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of AWK opened at $149.12 on Friday. 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 Company, Inc. has a one year low of $113.34 and a one year high of $150.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.25, a PEG ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.69. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $143.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $131.51.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last issued 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). American Water Works had a return on equity of 9.60% and a net margin of 21.93%. The firm had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Water Works news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 36,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,268,308. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.08% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.