IFM Investors Pty Ltd Increases Stock Position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its stake in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) by 5.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 83,960 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 4,188 shares during the quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd's holdings in American Water Works were worth $12,278,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in American Water Works by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,107,225 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,125,598,000 after purchasing 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 worth $579,981,000 after purchasing an additional 106,857 shares during the period. 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 worth $553,687,000 after purchasing an additional 477,411 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in American Water Works by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,357,726 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $418,003,000 after purchasing an additional 335,683 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in American Water Works by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,142,465 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $391,205,000 after purchasing an additional 414,568 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AWK. Barclays began coverage on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an "underweight" rating and a $138.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI increased their target price 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 lowered shares of American Water Works from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. 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, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $142.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $143.22.

American Water Works Price Performance

Shares of AWK stock traded down $0.15 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $139.90. The stock had a trading volume of 888,330 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,233,870. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $141.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $136.93. 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 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 $27.28 billion, a PE ratio of 25.48, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.69.

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

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th were paid a $0.8275 dividend. This is an increase from American Water Works's previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 13th. American Water Works's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Melissa K. Wikle sold 2,825 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the chief accounting officer directly 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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.