IMS Capital Management Sells 150 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

IMS Capital Management lessened its position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 4.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,570 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 150 shares during the period. IMS Capital Management’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $504,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 2.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,648,326 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,012,272,000 after buying an additional 624,977 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc lifted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 3.7% during the second quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 6,902,257 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $890,422,000 after purchasing an additional 247,745 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 1.2% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,143,437 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $261,949,000 after acquiring an additional 25,887 shares during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its position in shares of American Water Works by 945.5% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 1,806,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $238,397,000 after acquiring an additional 1,633,389 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirova US LLC grew its position in shares of American Water Works by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 1,588,109 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $205,120,000 after buying an additional 32,764 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Stock Performance

AWK stock opened at $146.25 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $143.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $132.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.58 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 stock has a market capitalization of $28.49 billion, a PE ratio of 29.67, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 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 firm had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.44 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend was Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.07%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AWK has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $164.00 price objective on shares of American Water Works in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded American Water Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $127.00 to $138.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $140.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Friday, September 20th. 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 given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Water Works currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $140.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of American Water Works stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 36,880 shares in the company, valued at $5,268,308. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works 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.