Argent Trust Co Sells 476 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Argent Trust Co lowered its stake in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 10.9% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,910 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 476 shares during the period. Argent Trust Co’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $505,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of American Water Works in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. ORG Partners LLC bought a new position in American Water Works during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its stake in American Water Works by 100.0% during the 1st 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 boosted its holdings 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 last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. 86.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American Water Works Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AWK opened at $149.12 on Friday. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $113.34 and a fifty-two week high of $150.68. The company’s 50-day moving average is $143.12 and its 200 day moving average is $131.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.64. The company has a market capitalization of $29.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.69.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last released 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). American Water Works had a net margin of 21.93% and a return on equity of 9.60%. The company had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were given a $0.765 dividend. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 13th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.07%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on AWK shares. 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 company from $127.00 to $138.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $164.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $140.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Water Works

In other 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 transaction of $101,423.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 36,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,268,308. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

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.