Claro Advisors LLC Grows Stock Holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Claro Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 50.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,712 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,907 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $698,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 945.5% during the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 1,633,389 shares during the period. Parsifal Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of American Water Works during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,441,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 94,996 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,539,000 after acquiring an additional 9,005 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in American Water Works in the fourth quarter worth $974,000. Finally, Humankind Investments LLC boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Humankind Investments LLC now owns 8,078 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,066,000 after acquiring an additional 376 shares in the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Water Works Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of American Water Works stock opened at $127.81 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $129.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $125.52. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52-week low of $113.34 and a 52-week high of $151.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.90 billion, a PE ratio of 25.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.67.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.98 by ($0.03). American Water Works had a net margin of 22.27% and a return on equity of 9.74%. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $962.30 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.91 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 14th were issued a dividend of $0.765 per share. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.39%. 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. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.07%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AWK shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. UBS Group upped their price target on American Water Works from $124.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Water Works presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $141.33.

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.