American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Shares Purchased by Los Angeles Capital Management LLC

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 11.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,132 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 215 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $261,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Diversified LLC grew its position in American Water Works by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Diversified LLC now owns 2,547 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $336,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management grew its position in American Water Works by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 1,809 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $239,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its position in American Water Works by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 894 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $118,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. Journey Advisory Group LLC grew its position in American Water Works by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Journey Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $251,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Presima Securities ULC lifted its holdings in American Water Works by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Presima Securities ULC now owns 5,470 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $722,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. UBS Group increased their price objective 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Water Works presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.33.

American Water Works Stock Performance

NYSE:AWK opened at $129.25 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $128.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $125.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a market cap of $25.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.67. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $113.34 and a twelve month high of $151.22.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.95 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $962.30 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.91 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 14th were given a dividend of $0.765 per share. This is a boost from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 13th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.07%.

American Water Works Company 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.