Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co Has $1.04 Million Position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co decreased its position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 26.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,024 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,852 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $1,036,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of American Water Works in the 4th quarter valued at $275,476,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in American Water Works by 43.3% during the fourth quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,622 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $346,000 after acquiring an additional 792 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its position in American Water Works by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 1,320,042 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $174,232,000 after purchasing an additional 86,234 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 352,583 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $46,537,000 after acquiring an additional 15,933 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its position in American Water Works by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 94,996 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,539,000 after purchasing an additional 9,005 shares during the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

American Water Works Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE AWK opened at $148.97 on Thursday. 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.64. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $142.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $131.38. The company has a market capitalization of $29.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.69.

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

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were paid a $0.765 dividend. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 13th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.07%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.85, for a total transaction of $101,423.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 36,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,268,308. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

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.