American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Position Raised by DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) by 3.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 337,306 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 12,440 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale owned approximately 0.17% of American Water Works worth $48,808,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 15.6% during the 1st quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 58,862 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $8,683,000 after buying an additional 7,961 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its stake in American Water Works by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 10,547 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,556,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Washington Trust Bank bought a new position in American Water Works in the 1st quarter worth about $234,000. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of American Water Works by 174.3% in the 1st quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 15,005 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,214,000 after purchasing an additional 9,535 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Water Works by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 693,078 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $102,243,000 after purchasing an additional 20,621 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

American Water Works Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AWK traded up $0.83 on Wednesday, reaching $141.85. 1,413,298 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,236,606. The firm has a market cap of $27.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.69. 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 $141.85 and a 200-day moving average of $136.95. 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 (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.95 earnings per share. American Water Works's revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th were issued a $0.8275 dividend. This is a positive change from American Water Works's previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $3.31 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.33%. American Water Works's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Water Works news, CAO Melissa K. Wikle sold 2,825 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The shares were 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 owned 7,572 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.11% of the company's stock.

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.