American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Stock Holdings Lifted by PFG Investments LLC

PFG Investments LLC raised its position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 6.2% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 13,993 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 816 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $1,807,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AWK. Fisher Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in American Water Works in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $230,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the 4th quarter valued at $253,000. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in American Water Works in the fourth quarter worth $670,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC acquired a new position in American Water Works during the fourth quarter worth $218,000. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in American Water Works by 39.7% during the fourth quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,898 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $383,000 after buying an additional 823 shares during the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

American Water Works Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:AWK opened at $145.97 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.64. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $140.23 and its 200-day moving average is $130.00. The company has a market cap of $28.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.69. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52-week low of $113.34 and a 52-week high of $149.00.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.42 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.10 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.44 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.26 earnings per share for the current year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were issued a $0.765 dividend. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 13th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.07%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.85, for a total transaction of $101,423.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 36,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,268,308. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

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.