American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Shares Acquired by Benjamin Edwards Inc.

Key Points

• Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its stake in American Water Works Company by 12.2%, owning a total of 331,149 shares valued at $48.85 million as of its latest filing.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.8275 per share, representing an annualized dividend of $3.31 and a yield of 2.3%, with the payment set for September 3rd.
• American Water Works reported Q2 earnings of $1.48 per share, missing expectations, but showed an 11.1% year-over-year revenue increase to $1.28 billion.

Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) by 12.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 331,149 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 36,124 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. owned about 0.17% of American Water Works worth $48,851,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AWK. Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the first quarter valued at $29,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Banque Transatlantique SA purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the fourth quarter valued at $46,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the first quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, Colonial Trust Co SC lifted its position in shares of American Water Works by 78.3% in the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 410 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AWK. Barclays reduced their price objective on American Water Works from $138.00 to $128.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $156.00 price objective (up from $154.00) on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Mizuho increased their target price on American Water Works from $148.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Evercore ISI increased their target price on American Water Works from $139.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded American Water Works from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $142.00.

American Water Works Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE AWK traded up $0.87 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $145.29. 1,986,715 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,628,389. The business's 50 day moving average is $141.41 and its 200-day moving average is $139.99. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $118.74 and a 12-month high of $155.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.35.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.22 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 21.91%. The business's revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.42 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.8275 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 12th. This represents a $3.31 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. American Water Works's dividend payout ratio is currently 59.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Water Works news, CAO Melissa K. Wikle sold 2,825 shares of the company'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 sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,572 shares in the company, valued at $1,084,916.16. This represents a 27.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.11% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.