22,829 Shares in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Acquired by Marshall Wace LLP

Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 22,829 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,842,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. MSH Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in American Water Works in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,216,000. Zacks Investment Management boosted its position in shares of American Water Works by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 148,267 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $18,458,000 after acquiring an additional 881 shares in the last quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in American Water Works by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,659 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $456,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC lifted its position in American Water Works by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 8,358 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,040,000 after acquiring an additional 398 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Guggenheim Capital LLC grew its stake in American Water Works by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 26,074 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,246,000 after buying an additional 1,459 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company's stock.

American Water Works Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AWK traded up $0.02 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $146.45. The company's stock had a trading volume of 260,832 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,211,039. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The company has a market cap of $28.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.68. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a one year low of $118.74 and a one year high of $155.50. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $143.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $134.77.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.06 by ($0.01). American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 22.44%. The company had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.95 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 EPS for the current year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be given a $0.8275 dividend. This is an increase from American Water Works's previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.31 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. American Water Works's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on AWK shares. Barclays started coverage on American Water Works in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an "underweight" rating and a $138.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their price target on American Water Works from $139.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group lowered American Water Works from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on American Water Works from $133.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of American Water Works from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $142.67.

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.