Greenleaf Trust Boosts Stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Greenleaf Trust increased its holdings in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 5.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 22,518 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,080 shares during the quarter. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $3,293,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. ORG Partners LLC purchased a new stake in American Water Works during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased 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 during the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new position in American Water Works in the first quarter valued at about $41,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in American Water Works in the second quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its stake in shares of American Water Works by 260.2% during the 1st quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 389 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares during the period. 86.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AWK shares. Mizuho cut shares of American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $131.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of American Water Works to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded American Water Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $127.00 to $138.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on American Water Works in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $124.00 price target for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $140.00.

Insider Activity at American Water Works

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 shares were sold at an average price of $142.85, for a total value of $101,423.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 36,880 shares in the company, valued at $5,268,308. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

American Water Works Price Performance

NYSE:AWK opened at $142.12 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $27.69 billion, a PE ratio of 28.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $143.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $135.45. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $113.34 and a 52 week high of $150.68.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted 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 prior year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.27 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.765 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is 62.07%.

American Water Works Company 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.