Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Sells 7,807 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lessened its stake in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 29.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 18,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 7,807 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $2,377,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in American Water Works by 29.4% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 766 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $101,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in shares of American Water Works by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 57,039 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,529,000 after buying an additional 6,485 shares during the last quarter. Commerce Bank grew its stake in shares of American Water Works by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 21,244 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,804,000 after acquiring an additional 984 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in American Water Works by 144.5% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 119,412 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $15,761,000 after acquiring an additional 70,577 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in American Water Works by 52.5% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 369,331 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,712,000 after acquiring an additional 127,073 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Stock Up 0.2 %

AWK opened at $147.52 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $143.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $132.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $113.34 and a 52 week high of $150.68. The stock has a market cap of $28.74 billion, a PE ratio of 29.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.69.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 21.93% and a return on equity of 9.60%. The firm had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.10 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.44 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were paid a dividend of $0.765 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.07%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is 62.07%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 sale, the director now directly owns 36,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,268,308. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AWK shares. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of American Water Works to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $140.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $164.00 price objective on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $140.29.

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.