Lbp Am Sa Decreases Stock Holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

LBP AM SA lowered its position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) by 73.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 23,834 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 64,586 shares during the period. LBP AM SA's holdings in American Water Works were worth $3,516,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 124,352 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $18,344,000 after buying an additional 2,570 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 45.2% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,326 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $342,000 after buying an additional 724 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 21.5% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 7,692 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,135,000 after buying an additional 1,359 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 40,625 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $5,993,000 after buying an additional 1,588 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 6,235 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $776,000 after buying an additional 557 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AWK. Evercore ISI raised their price target 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. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of American Water Works from $154.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of American Water Works from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of American Water Works from $138.00 to $128.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $141.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Water Works 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 completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.11% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

American Water Works Stock Down 0.3%

AWK stock traded down $0.45 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $142.23. The company's stock had a trading volume of 948,450 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,238,511. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52-week low of $118.74 and a 52-week high of $155.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.91, a PEG ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.69. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $141.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $137.22.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.06 by ($0.01). American Water Works had a net margin of 22.24% and a return on equity of 10.35%. The business had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.95 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 EPS for the current year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th were given a $0.8275 dividend. This represents a $3.31 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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 (DPR) is currently 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.