Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Grows Stock Position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 100.0% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 254 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $31,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MV Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in American Water Works by 110.8% during the 4th quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 196 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. ORG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 79.2% in the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 233 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 71.9% in the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 239 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. 86.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on AWK shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on American Water Works from $124.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. StockNews.com downgraded American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $141.33.

American Water Works Stock Performance

AWK stock traded up $0.93 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $128.69. The company had a trading volume of 248,892 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,371,435. The firm has a market cap of $25.07 billion, a PE ratio of 25.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.67. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $113.34 and a 1-year high of $151.22. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $129.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $125.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.98 by ($0.03). American Water Works had a return on equity of 9.74% and a net margin of 22.27%. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $962.30 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.91 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 14th were paid a dividend of $0.765 per share. This is a positive change from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 13th. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.38%. American Water Works’s payout ratio is 62.07%.

American Water Works 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.