Ritholtz Wealth Management Purchases 306 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,221 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $471,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AWK. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 19.1% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 271,124 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,786,000 after acquiring an additional 43,406 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in American Water Works during the 4th quarter worth approximately $222,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Water Works in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $78,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd increased its position in shares of American Water Works by 269.3% during the fourth quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 13,049 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,722,000 after acquiring an additional 9,516 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighPoint Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the fourth quarter worth $363,000. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AWK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of American Water Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $127.00 to $138.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wolfe Research raised American Water Works to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $140.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $164.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Monday, October 7th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $124.00 price target for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, American Water Works has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $140.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Water Works

In other news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Trading Up 1.0 %

American Water Works stock opened at $142.58 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.64. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $143.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $134.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.92, a PEG ratio of 3.28 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.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 quarter last year, the company posted $1.44 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.27 earnings per share for the current year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 13th were paid a $0.765 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.07%.

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.