American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Stock Holdings Boosted by HCR Wealth Advisors

HCR Wealth Advisors raised its position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 0.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 27,017 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors’ holdings in American Water Works were worth $3,951,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 945.5% during the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 1,633,389 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 12,816.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,464,674 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $189,177,000 after acquiring an additional 1,453,334 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the 1st quarter worth $108,688,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 2.6% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Nuance Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 70.3% during the 1st quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 958,309 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $117,115,000 after acquiring an additional 395,684 shares in the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of American Water Works stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.85, for a total transaction of $101,423.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 36,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,268,308. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on American Water Works in a research note on Monday, October 7th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $124.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $164.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $140.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a report on Friday, September 20th. Wolfe Research upgraded American Water Works to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered American Water Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $127.00 to $138.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $140.00.

American Water Works Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:AWK traded up $2.65 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $138.87. 689,286 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,219,427. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.64. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52-week low of $113.34 and a 52-week high of $150.68. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $143.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $134.16. The company has a market capitalization of $27.06 billion, a PE ratio of 28.28, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.69.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.47 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.10 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 9.60% and a net margin of 21.93%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.44 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were given a $0.765 dividend. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 13th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.32%.

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.