Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Grows Position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 4.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 110,882 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,656 shares during the quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. owned 0.06% of American Water Works worth $16,357,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Providence First Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of American Water Works in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in American Water Works during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in American Water Works during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in American Water Works by 54.2% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Finally, Banque Transatlantique SA purchased a new stake in American Water Works during the 4th quarter worth $46,000. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Transactions at American Water Works

In other American Water Works news, CAO Melissa K. Wikle sold 2,825 shares of American Water Works stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.28, for a total transaction of $404,766.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,572 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,084,916.16. The trade was a 27.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.11% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American Water Works Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AWK opened at $140.12 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $143.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $136.19. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52-week low of $118.74 and a 52-week high of $155.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 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 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. American Water Works had a net margin of 22.24% and a return on equity of 10.35%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.95 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th were given a dividend of $0.8275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 13th. This is a positive change from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.36%. American Water Works’s payout ratio is 60.29%.

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.