Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) by 22.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,923 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 2,214 shares during the quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc.'s holdings in American Water Works were worth $1,759,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AWK. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,107,225 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,125,598,000 after acquiring an additional 217,582 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in American Water Works by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,671,050 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $579,981,000 after purchasing an additional 106,857 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its position in American Water Works by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 4,490,423 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $553,687,000 after purchasing an additional 477,411 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in American Water Works by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,357,726 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $418,003,000 after purchasing an additional 335,683 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in American Water Works by 120.7% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,174,395 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $395,180,000 after purchasing an additional 1,736,258 shares in the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Water Works Price Performance

Shares of AWK traded up $0.02 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $140.04. 719,107 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,219,970. The stock has a market cap of $27.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.71. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $118.74 and a 1-year high of $155.50. The company has a 50 day moving average of $144.09 and a 200-day moving average of $135.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.39.

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

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th were issued 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 yield of 2.36%. American Water Works's dividend payout ratio is presently 60.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Water Works news, CAO Melissa K. Wikle sold 2,825 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.28, for a total value of $404,766.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,572 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,084,916.16. This trade represents a 27.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of American Water Works from $142.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of American Water Works from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of American Water Works from $139.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group lowered shares of American Water Works from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Barclays started coverage on American Water Works in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an "underweight" rating and a $138.00 price target for the company. Four equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $143.22.

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.