American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Shares Sold by Wakefield Asset Management LLLP

Wakefield Asset Management LLLP trimmed its holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 29,728 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 385 shares during the period. American Water Works makes up about 1.3% of Wakefield Asset Management LLLP’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $3,840,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AWK. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of American Water Works during the 4th quarter worth $275,476,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its stake in American Water Works by 945.5% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 1,806,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $238,397,000 after buying an additional 1,633,389 shares during the period. M&G Plc acquired a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the first quarter valued at about $108,688,000. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $92,838,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,648,326 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,012,272,000 after acquiring an additional 624,977 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.85, for a total value of $101,423.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 36,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,268,308. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AWK has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of American Water Works from $124.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. Wells Fargo & Company cut American Water Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $127.00 to $138.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, American Water Works has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $141.17.

American Water Works Price Performance

American Water Works stock opened at $143.94 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52-week low of $113.34 and a 52-week high of $149.00. The firm has a market cap of $28.04 billion, a PE ratio of 29.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.69. The company’s 50 day moving average is $139.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $129.70.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 13th were paid a $0.765 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.