Griffith & Werner Inc. Takes $643,000 Position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Griffith & Werner Inc. acquired a new stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 5,164 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $643,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,012 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $250,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Summit Financial LLC increased its stake in American Water Works by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 8,438 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,051,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the period. Glenview Trust co increased its stake in American Water Works by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 4,986 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $621,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in American Water Works by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,241 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $528,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in American Water Works by 54.2% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 293 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AWK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays started coverage on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an "underweight" rating and a $138.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI increased 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 lowered shares of American Water Works from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. UBS Group lowered shares of American Water Works from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of American Water Works from $142.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Four 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. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $143.22.

American Water Works Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of American Water Works stock traded up $0.98 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $141.85. The company's stock had a trading volume of 373,906 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,214,966. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a one year low of $118.74 and a one year high of $155.50. The company has a market capitalization of $27.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.73. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $144.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $135.40. 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 posted 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). The company had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.09 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 22.44%. The company's revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.95 EPS. On average, research 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 company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be paid a $0.8275 dividend. This represents a $3.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. This is a boost from American Water Works's previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. American Water Works's dividend payout ratio is currently 60.29%.

American Water Works Company 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.