PDS Planning Inc Acquires New Shares in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

PDS Planning Inc bought a new position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 2,193 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $324,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AWK. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in American Water Works by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,107,225 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,125,598,000 after buying an additional 217,582 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,671,050 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $579,981,000 after acquiring an additional 106,857 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 4,490,423 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $553,687,000 after acquiring an additional 477,411 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of American Water Works by 11.1% in 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 period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of American Water Works by 120.7% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,174,395 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $395,180,000 after acquiring an additional 1,736,258 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AWK shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. Evercore ISI raised their price target on American Water Works from $139.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Wall Street Zen lowered American Water Works from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. UBS Group downgraded American Water Works from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on American Water Works in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued an "underweight" rating and a $138.00 target price on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Water Works presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $143.22.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Melissa K. Wikle sold 2,825 shares of American Water Works stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.28, for a total transaction of $404,766.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,572 shares in the company, valued at $1,084,916.16. This trade represents a 27.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.11% of the company's stock.

American Water Works Stock Performance

NYSE:AWK opened at $137.79 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.49. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $142.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $136.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.87 billion, a PE ratio of 25.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.71. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52-week low of $118.74 and a 52-week high of $155.50.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $1.14 billion for 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%. The company's revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.95 earnings per share. 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 issued a dividend of $0.8275 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 13th. This is a boost 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 2.40%. American Water Works's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.

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