American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Shares Purchased by Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) by 16.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 24,597 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,426 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.'s holdings in American Water Works were worth $3,597,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the 4th quarter valued at about $294,524,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of American Water Works by 120.7% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,174,395 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $395,180,000 after acquiring an additional 1,736,258 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in American Water Works by 38.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,695,734 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $335,592,000 after acquiring an additional 747,316 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in American Water Works by 20,534.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 615,306 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $90,770,000 after acquiring an additional 612,324 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in American Water Works in the fourth quarter worth $71,120,000. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AWK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on American Water Works from $142.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays initiated coverage on American Water Works in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an "underweight" rating and a $138.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $139.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of American Water Works from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, UBS Group lowered shares of American Water Works from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, American Water Works currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $143.22.

Insider Activity at American Water Works

In related news, CAO Melissa K. Wikle sold 2,825 shares of American Water Works stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 7,572 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,084,916.16. This trade represents a 27.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.11% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American Water Works Stock Performance

NYSE AWK traded down $0.40 on Friday, hitting $139.91. 683,750 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,235,258. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $142.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $136.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.28 billion, a PE ratio of 25.48, a P/E/G ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $118.74 and a 1-year high of $155.50.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.06 by ($0.01). American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.35% and a net margin of 22.24%. The business had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.09 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.95 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 EPS for the current year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th were paid a $0.8275 dividend. This is an increase from American Water Works's previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $3.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.37%. American Water Works's dividend payout ratio is presently 60.29%.

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.