Lombard Odier Asset Management USA Corp Invests $1.70 Million in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Lombard Odier Asset Management USA Corp acquired a new position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 13,153 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,699,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Water Works by 29.4% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 766 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $101,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in American Water Works by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 57,039 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,529,000 after buying an additional 6,485 shares in the last quarter. Commerce Bank boosted its stake in American Water Works by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 21,244 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,804,000 after buying an additional 984 shares in the last quarter. FineMark National Bank & Trust boosted its stake in American Water Works by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. FineMark National Bank & Trust now owns 2,503 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $330,000 after buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SageView Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in American Water Works by 38.4% in the 4th quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 7,914 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $985,000 after buying an additional 2,194 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on AWK shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered American Water Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $127.00 to $138.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wolfe Research raised American Water Works to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $140.29.

American Water Works Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of AWK opened at $147.23 on Monday. 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 12-month low of $113.34 and a 12-month high of $150.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.68 billion, a PE ratio of 29.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.69. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $143.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $131.85.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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). 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 analyst estimates of $1.10 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.44 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.27 earnings per share for the current year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 13th were issued a $0.765 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.07%.

Insider Activity at American Water Works

In related 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 value of $101,423.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 36,880 shares in the company, valued at $5,268,308. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.