American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Position Increased by Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 25.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,514 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,148 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $2,248,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its holdings in American Water Works by 12,816.0% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,464,674 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $189,177,000 after acquiring an additional 1,453,334 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc acquired a new position in American Water Works during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $108,688,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in American Water Works by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,648,326 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,012,272,000 after buying an additional 624,977 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in American Water Works by 14,944.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 537,987 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $786,750,000 after buying an additional 534,411 shares during the period. Finally, Nuance Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 70.3% during the first quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 958,309 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $117,115,000 after acquiring an additional 395,684 shares during the period. 86.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research raised shares of American Water Works to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $164.00 price target on shares of American Water Works in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Mizuho lowered 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 report on Tuesday, October 15th. 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 note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $140.00 price target on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $140.00.

American Water Works Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AWK opened at $135.69 on Thursday. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $113.34 and a 1 year high of $150.68. 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 fifty day moving average price of $142.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $136.10. The firm has a market cap of $26.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.64, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.69.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.42 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.44 earnings per share. American Water Works’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be paid a $0.765 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were 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 directly owns 36,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,268,308. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at 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.