Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Increases Stock Position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) by 15.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 58,862 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 7,961 shares during the quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.'s holdings in American Water Works were worth $8,683,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the first quarter valued at $29,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 54.2% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 293 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the fourth quarter worth $46,000. Finally, Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the fourth quarter worth $47,000. 86.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group downgraded shares of American Water Works from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an "underweight" rating and a $138.00 price target for the company. 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 research note on Friday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of American Water Works from $142.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of American Water Works from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Water Works presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $143.22.

American Water Works Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE AWK traded up $0.83 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $142.63. 220,627 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,234,799. The stock has a market cap of $27.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.02, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.69. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $141.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $136.99. 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 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 analysts' consensus estimates of $1.06 by ($0.01). The firm 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.95 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th were paid a dividend of $0.8275 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $3.31 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. This is a boost from American Water Works's previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. American Water Works's payout ratio is currently 60.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Water Works news, CAO Melissa K. Wikle sold 2,825 shares of the business'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. The trade was a 27.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company's stock.

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.