American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Stake Reduced by Richardson Financial Services Inc.

Richardson Financial Services Inc. trimmed its stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 3.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 4,450 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 156 shares during the quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $575,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $275,476,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its position in 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 valued at $238,397,000 after buying an additional 1,633,389 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its position in shares of American Water Works by 12,816.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,464,674 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $189,177,000 after buying an additional 1,453,334 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the 1st quarter worth about $108,688,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 2.6% in 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at American Water Works

In other news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.85, for a total value of $101,423.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,268,308. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Water Works Stock Performance

AWK opened at $148.97 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $142.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $131.38. The firm has a market cap of $29.02 billion, a PE ratio of 30.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $113.34 and a fifty-two week high of $150.68.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.47 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.10 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 9.60% and a net margin of 21.93%. American Water Works’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 13th were issued a dividend of $0.765 per share. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 13th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.07%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company cut American Water Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $127.00 to $138.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, American Water Works presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $135.60.

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.