Federated Hermes Inc. Sells 12,512 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Federated Hermes Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 20.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 49,392 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 12,512 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $6,379,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 6,902,257 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $890,422,000 after acquiring an additional 247,745 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,143,437 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $261,949,000 after buying an additional 25,887 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of American Water Works in the 4th quarter worth about $275,476,000. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 945.5% in 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 buying an additional 1,633,389 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Price Performance

NYSE AWK opened at $149.88 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $29.20 billion, a PE ratio of 30.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.69. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $113.34 and a 52 week high of $150.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $142.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $131.26.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.10 billion. American Water Works had a net margin of 21.93% and a return on equity of 9.60%. American Water Works’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.44 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.27 earnings per share for the current year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were given a dividend of $0.765 per share. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 13th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.07%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of American Water Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $127.00 to $138.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $135.60.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of the company’s 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 in the company, valued at $5,268,308. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

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.