American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Position Cut by Inspire Investing LLC

Inspire Investing LLC lowered its position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 43.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,046 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,589 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $264,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. ORG Partners LLC acquired a new stake in American Water Works in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. boosted its position 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 worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of American Water Works in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AWK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wolfe Research raised shares of American Water Works to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of American Water Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $127.00 to $138.00 in a 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 report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $140.00 price target on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Water Works currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $140.29.

American Water Works Trading Down 1.7 %

American Water Works stock opened at $145.07 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $28.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.69. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $113.34 and a 1 year high of $150.68. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $143.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $132.24. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.42 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.10 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were given a $0.765 dividend. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 13th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.07%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,268,308. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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.