American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Shares Sold by M&R Capital Management Inc.

M&R Capital Management Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 4.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 150 shares during the quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $502,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AWK. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. ORG Partners LLC acquired a new stake in American Water Works in the second quarter worth about $30,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC grew its position in American Water Works by 71.9% in the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 239 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased 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 buying an additional 127 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on AWK shares. 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut American Water Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $127.00 to $138.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective on shares of American Water Works in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of American Water Works to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $140.29.

American Water Works Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AWK opened at $146.10 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $144.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $133.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.63, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.69. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52-week low of $113.34 and a 52-week high of $150.68. 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 (NYSE:AWK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.47 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.10 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 9.60% and a net margin of 21.93%. The business’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.44 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side 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 firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were issued a $0.765 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. American Water Works’s payout ratio is currently 62.07%.

Insider Activity

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

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.