American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Shares Purchased by Ballentine Partners LLC

Ballentine Partners LLC increased its position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 16,847 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,102 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $2,464,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AWK. ORG Partners LLC acquired a new position in American Water Works during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its stake in American Water Works by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 254 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new position in American Water Works during the 1st quarter worth about $41,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in American Water Works during the 2nd quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its stake in American Water Works by 260.2% during the 1st quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 389 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.85, for a total transaction of $101,423.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 36,880 shares in the company, valued at $5,268,308. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on AWK. Wells Fargo & Company lowered American Water Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $127.00 to $138.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $140.00 price target on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Wolfe Research raised American Water Works to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $164.00 price target on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on American Water Works in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $124.00 price target on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $140.00.

American Water Works Trading Down 1.5 %

AWK opened at $137.66 on Friday. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a one year low of $113.34 and a one year high of $150.68. The company has a market cap of $26.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.92, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.69. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $143.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $135.48.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last released its quarterly 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). The firm had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.44 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $0.765 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.07%.

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.