Sterling Investment Counsel LLC Purchases New Position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC purchased a new stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,096 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $457,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,107,225 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,125,598,000 after purchasing an additional 217,582 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,671,050 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $579,981,000 after purchasing an additional 106,857 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 4,490,423 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $553,687,000 after purchasing an additional 477,411 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,357,726 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $418,003,000 after purchasing an additional 335,683 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 120.7% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,174,395 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $395,180,000 after acquiring an additional 1,736,258 shares during the period. 86.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Water Works news, CAO Melissa K. Wikle sold 2,825 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.28, for a total value of $404,766.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,572 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,084,916.16. This represents a 27.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AWK shares. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on American Water Works from $139.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on American Water Works from $142.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays started coverage on American Water Works in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $138.00 price objective for the company. Finally, UBS Group downgraded American Water Works from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $143.22.

American Water Works Price Performance

American Water Works stock opened at $140.93 on Thursday. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $118.74 and a 12 month high of $155.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $143.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $135.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.48 billion, a PE ratio of 25.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.71.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.06 by ($0.01). American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.35% and a net margin of 22.24%. The company had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.95 EPS. American Water Works’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th were given a $0.8275 dividend. This is a boost from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $3.31 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.35%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.29%.

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.