Cannon Global Investment Management LLC Invests $354,000 in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Cannon Global Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,400 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $354,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its holdings in American Water Works by 4.8% in the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,607 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $237,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY increased its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 44.0% in the 1st quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 37,559 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $5,541,000 after purchasing an additional 11,484 shares in the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 23.2% in the first quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,288 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $338,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the period. Rossby Financial LCC acquired a new position in American Water Works during the first quarter worth about $76,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its holdings in American Water Works by 0.7% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 86,782 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $12,802,000 after buying an additional 580 shares in the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on American Water Works from $142.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of 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. UBS Group downgraded shares of American Water Works from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Barclays began coverage on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued an "underweight" rating and a $138.00 price target on the stock. 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $143.22.

American Water Works Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of AWK traded down $0.40 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $139.91. The company had a trading volume of 683,750 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,233,173. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $118.74 and a 1-year high of $155.50. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $142.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $136.58. The stock has a market cap 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 quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

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

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th were paid a dividend of $0.8275 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 13th. 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 2.37%. American Water Works's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Water Works

In related news, CAO Melissa K. Wikle sold 2,825 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 7,572 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,084,916.16. This represents a 27.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.11% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.