Benjamin Edwards Inc. Purchases 240 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 0.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,531 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 240 shares during the quarter. American Water Works makes up 0.7% of Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $3,685,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of American Water Works during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. ORG Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. boosted its position in American Water Works by 100.0% during the first quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 254 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in American Water Works during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AWK opened at $149.12 on Friday. 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 has a market cap of $29.05 billion, a PE ratio of 30.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.69. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $143.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $131.51. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.47 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $1.15 billion during 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 revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.44 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were issued 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 is presently 62.07%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of American Water Works 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 36,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,268,308. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AWK. Wolfe Research raised American Water Works to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded American Water Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $127.00 to $138.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $164.00 price objective on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Water Works has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $140.33.

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.