Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Acquires New Holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 5,671 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $837,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Providence First Trust Co acquired a new stake in American Water Works during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in American Water Works during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in American Water Works during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in American Water Works by 54.2% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 293 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Banque Transatlantique SA acquired a new stake in American Water Works during the 4th quarter valued at $46,000. 86.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AWK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of American Water Works from $142.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group lowered shares of American Water Works from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Evercore ISI raised 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 report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays initiated 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 for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of American Water Works from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $143.22.

Insider Transactions at American Water Works

In related news, CAO Melissa K. Wikle sold 2,825 shares of American Water Works 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,572 shares in the company, valued at $1,084,916.16. This trade represents a 27.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.11% of the company's stock.

American Water Works Stock Performance

Shares of American Water Works stock traded down $2.06 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $140.12. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,077,940 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,222,415. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $143.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $136.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.49. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a one year low of $118.74 and a one year high of $155.50. The stock has a market cap of $27.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.71.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th were given 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 dividend yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 13th. American Water Works's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.29%.

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.