Everence Capital Management Inc. Buys 2,580 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Everence Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 23.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,410 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,580 shares during the period. Everence Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $1,961,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AWK. ORG Partners LLC bought a new stake in American Water Works in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. grew its stake in shares of American Water Works by 100.0% in the first quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 254 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new position in American Water Works during the first quarter worth about $41,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in American Water Works during the second quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 260.2% in the 1st quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 389 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Water Works

In other news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of American Water Works stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 36,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,268,308. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AWK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of American Water Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $127.00 to $138.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wolfe Research raised American Water Works to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Mizuho downgraded American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $131.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $140.00 price target on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $124.00 price objective for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $140.00.

American Water Works Price Performance

NYSE:AWK traded down $0.74 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $141.22. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 176,994 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,201,434. The company has a market capitalization of $27.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.80, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.58. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $113.34 and a twelve month high of $150.68. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $143.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $135.10.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.42 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were issued a dividend of $0.765 per share. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 13th. American Water Works’s payout ratio is 62.07%.

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.