SFE Investment Counsel Increases Position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

SFE Investment Counsel lifted its position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) by 11.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,780 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,627 shares during the quarter. American Water Works accounts for about 1.4% of SFE Investment Counsel's holdings, making the stock its 24th largest holding. SFE Investment Counsel's holdings in American Water Works were worth $6,901,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new stake in American Water Works in the 4th quarter worth approximately $227,000. LPL Financial LLC increased its position in American Water Works by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 254,976 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $31,742,000 after buying an additional 2,895 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in American Water Works by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,107,225 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,125,598,000 after purchasing an additional 217,582 shares during the last quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE boosted its stake in American Water Works by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 7,064 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $879,000 after purchasing an additional 786 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of American Water Works in the 4th quarter worth $101,000. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Water Works news, CAO Melissa K. Wikle sold 2,825 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.28, for a total transaction of $404,766.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,572 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,084,916.16. This represents a 27.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.11% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on AWK shares. Barclays lowered their target price on American Water Works from $138.00 to $128.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $156.00 price objective (up from $154.00) on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on American Water Works from $139.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on 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. Four equities research 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 has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $141.67.

American Water Works Stock Performance

AWK traded down $1.29 on Thursday, reaching $140.60. The company had a trading volume of 1,188,014 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,086,303. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.42 billion, a PE ratio of 25.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.69. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $118.74 and a 1 year high of $155.50. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $141.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $138.33.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.95 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th were given a dividend of $0.8275 per share. This is a positive change from American Water Works's previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.31 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 13th. American Water Works's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.