American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Shares Sold by Inspire Investing LLC

Inspire Investing LLC lowered its stake in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 43.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,046 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,589 shares during the quarter. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $264,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Sienna Gestion acquired a new position in shares of American Water Works in the 2nd quarter valued at $6,119,000. Lokken Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 12.4% in the second quarter. Lokken Investment Group LLC now owns 7,503 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $969,000 after acquiring an additional 829 shares during the last quarter. Beck Bode LLC purchased a new stake in American Water Works during the second quarter valued at about $13,387,000. Blair William & Co. IL increased its stake in American Water Works by 8.4% during the second quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 11,516 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,487,000 after acquiring an additional 897 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 49.8% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 28,485 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,658,000 after purchasing an additional 9,464 shares during the period. 86.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Water Works Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of American Water Works stock opened at $145.07 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.58. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $113.34 and a 1-year high of $150.68. The business has a 50-day moving average of $143.62 and a 200-day moving average of $132.24. The company has a market capitalization of $28.26 billion, a PE ratio of 29.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.69.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.42 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.44 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were given a $0.765 dividend. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 13th. American Water Works’s payout ratio is currently 62.07%.

Insider Activity

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 value of $101,423.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,880 shares in the company, valued at $5,268,308. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AWK shares. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $140.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a report on Friday, September 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $164.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of American Water Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $127.00 to $138.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded American Water Works to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Water Works presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $140.29.

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.