AGP Franklin LLC Invests $537,000 in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Key Points

• AGP Franklin LLC purchased 3,654 shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) valued at approximately $537,000 during the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors have significantly increased their stakes in the company, with holdings by Norges Bank valued at about $294.5 million and GAMMA Investing LLC raising its holdings by 20,534%.
• American Water Works recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.8275, marking an increase from its previous dividend of $0.77, reflecting a yield of 2.36%.

AGP Franklin LLC bought a new position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 3,654 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $537,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AWK. PFG Advisors increased its position in shares of American Water Works by 33.4% during the 1st quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 9,699 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,431,000 after purchasing an additional 2,429 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of American Water Works by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 124,352 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $18,344,000 after purchasing an additional 2,570 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its position in shares of American Water Works by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 10,547 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,556,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of American Water Works by 45.2% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,326 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $342,000 after purchasing an additional 724 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of American Water Works by 21.5% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 7,692 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,135,000 after purchasing an additional 1,359 shares during the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at American Water Works

In other news, CAO Melissa K. Wikle sold 2,825 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.28, for a total transaction of $404,766.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 7,572 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,084,916.16. The trade was a 27.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.11% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

American Water Works Price Performance

NYSE AWK traded up $0.62 on Thursday, hitting $140.27. The stock had a trading volume of 828,216 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,385,483. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $141.23 and a 200-day moving average of $138.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.49. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52-week low of $118.74 and a 52-week high of $155.50. The company has a market capitalization of $27.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.69.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.22 billion. American Water Works had a net margin of 22.24% and a return on equity of 10.35%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.42 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 EPS for the current year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be given a dividend of $0.8275 per share. This represents a $3.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.36%. American Water Works's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AWK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays decreased their target price on American Water Works from $138.00 to $128.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on American Water Works from $142.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $156.00 price objective (up previously from $154.00) on shares of American Water Works in a report on Friday, July 11th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on American Water Works from $139.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered American Water Works from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Water Works has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $141.67.

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.