Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases 232,174 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) by 59.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 622,020 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 232,174 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.32% of American Water Works worth $91,760,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of American Water Works by 2.1% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 124,352 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $18,344,000 after buying an additional 2,570 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in shares of American Water Works by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 65,249 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $8,123,000 after buying an additional 2,113 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of American Water Works by 45.2% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,326 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $342,000 after buying an additional 724 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of American Water Works by 21.5% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 7,692 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,135,000 after buying an additional 1,359 shares during the period. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of American Water Works by 4.1% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 40,625 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $5,993,000 after buying an additional 1,588 shares during the period. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Water Works

In other American Water Works news, CAO Melissa K. Wikle sold 2,825 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.28, for a total value of $404,766.00. Following the sale, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered American Water Works from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on 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 increased their price objective on 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 cut American Water Works from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Barclays began coverage on American Water Works in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an "underweight" rating and a $138.00 price objective on the stock. Four 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Water Works presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $143.22.

American Water Works Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AWK traded up $1.13 on Tuesday, hitting $141.09. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,381,850 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,235,900. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $141.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $136.95. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $118.74 and a 1 year high of $155.50. The company has a market capitalization of $27.51 billion, a PE ratio of 25.70, a PEG ratio of 3.31 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 (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.05 earnings per share 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 previous year, the business earned $0.95 EPS. The business's revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th were issued a $0.8275 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $3.31 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.35%. This is a boost from American Water Works's previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. 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.