American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Position Reduced by Impax Asset Management Group plc

Impax Asset Management Group plc reduced its holdings in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) by 50.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,309,589 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 2,326,940 shares during the period. American Water Works comprises 2.1% of Impax Asset Management Group plc's portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Impax Asset Management Group plc owned 1.18% of American Water Works worth $340,711,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AWK. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of American Water Works by 0.9% in 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of American Water Works by 2.3% in 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 in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 477,411 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 335,683 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 414,568 shares during the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on AWK shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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 research report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays started 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 upped 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. 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, 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $143.22.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Melissa K. Wikle sold 2,825 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.28, for a total value of $404,766.00. Following the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.11% of the company's stock.

American Water Works Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of American Water Works stock traded down $0.15 during trading on Monday, hitting $139.90. The stock had a trading volume of 888,330 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,233,870. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $141.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $136.93. The stock has a market cap of $27.28 billion, a PE ratio of 25.48, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.44. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $118.74 and a 12 month high of $155.50.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last released 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 firm had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.35% and a net margin of 22.24%. 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 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

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

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.