American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Shares Sold by Kesler Norman & Wride LLC

Kesler Norman & Wride LLC cut its position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 30.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 12,454 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,459 shares during the quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $1,822,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of American Water Works in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. ORG Partners LLC bought a new position in American Water Works in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its position in American Water Works by 100.0% in the first quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 254 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Tortoise Investment Management LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Water Works 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 transaction, the director now owns 36,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,268,308. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AWK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research raised American Water Works to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on American Water Works in a research report on Monday. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $124.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded 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. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, American Water Works presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $138.25.

American Water Works Trading Down 3.9 %

Shares of AWK opened at $136.98 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $144.14 and its 200-day moving average is $133.71. 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 firm has a market cap of $26.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.78, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.69.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 the consensus estimate of $1.10 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 9.60% and a net margin of 21.93%. The business’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.44 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were given a $0.765 dividend. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 13th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is 62.07%.

American Water Works Company Profile

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.