Heritage Wealth Management Inc. Makes New $488,000 Investment in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Heritage Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 3,750 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $488,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AWK. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in American Water Works during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. ORG Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of American Water Works by 71.9% in the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 239 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its holdings in American Water Works by 100.0% during the 1st 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 during the period. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new position in American Water Works during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

American Water Works Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of American Water Works stock opened at $146.10 on Thursday. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $113.34 and a 1 year high of $150.68. The firm has a market cap of $28.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.63, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a 50-day moving average of $144.03 and a 200 day moving average of $133.24. 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 (NYSE:AWK) last released its 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). The business had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.10 billion. American Water Works had a net margin of 21.93% and a return on equity of 9.60%. American Water Works’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.44 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were issued a dividend of $0.765 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. American Water Works’s payout ratio is presently 62.07%.

Insider Transactions at American Water Works

In related news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.85, for a total transaction of $101,423.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 36,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,268,308. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.08% of the stock is owned by 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.