American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Shares Sold by GoalVest Advisory LLC

GoalVest Advisory LLC decreased its position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 50.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 285 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 285 shares during the period. GoalVest Advisory LLC’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $35,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MV Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in American Water Works by 110.8% in the fourth quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 196 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in American Water Works in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. ORG Partners LLC grew its holdings in American Water Works by 79.2% in the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 233 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 71.9% during the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 239 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on AWK. UBS Group increased their price objective on American Water Works from $124.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. StockNews.com lowered American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.33.

American Water Works Stock Performance

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

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last released its 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $962.30 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.91 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 13th. This is an increase from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.37%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is 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.