Delta Financial Group Inc. Has $223,000 Stock Position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Delta Financial Group Inc. reduced its holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 220 shares during the quarter. Delta Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $223,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AWK. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,648,326 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,012,272,000 after purchasing an additional 624,977 shares during the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 6,902,257 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $890,422,000 after purchasing an additional 247,745 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,143,437 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $261,949,000 after purchasing an additional 25,887 shares during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 945.5% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 1,806,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $238,397,000 after purchasing an additional 1,633,389 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirova US LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 1,588,109 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $205,120,000 after purchasing an additional 32,764 shares during the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on AWK shares. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Wolfe Research raised shares of American Water Works to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of American Water Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $127.00 to $138.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $164.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Three equities 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 MarketBeat.com, American Water Works has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $140.29.

American Water Works Stock Down 1.0 %

American Water Works stock opened at $144.68 on Friday. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $113.34 and a 1-year high of $150.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.69. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $144.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $133.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.10 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.44 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were paid a $0.765 dividend. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 13th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.07%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Water Works

In other news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now owns 36,880 shares in the company, valued at $5,268,308. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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.