Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Buys 7,961 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. raised its stake in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) by 15.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 58,862 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 7,961 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.'s holdings in American Water Works were worth $8,683,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of American Water Works by 133.0% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 862 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $107,000 after purchasing an additional 492 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the 4th quarter valued at about $11,136,000. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its position in shares of American Water Works by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 3,796 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $522,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. increased its position in shares of American Water Works by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 1,670 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $208,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC increased its position in shares of American Water Works by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 4,112 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $512,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company's stock.

American Water Works Trading Up 0.8%

AWK stock opened at $141.09 on Wednesday. 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. The company has a market capitalization of $27.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.70, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.69. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $141.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $136.95.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last posted 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 return on equity of 10.35% and a net margin of 22.24%. The business had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.95 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate 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 paid a $0.8275 dividend. This represents a $3.31 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.35%. This is an increase from American Water Works's previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 13th. American Water Works's dividend payout ratio is presently 60.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on AWK. UBS Group lowered shares of American Water Works from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of American Water Works from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Evercore ISI increased their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. Finally, Barclays began coverage on shares of American Water Works in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued an "underweight" rating and a $138.00 target price for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $143.22.

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 that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The stock was 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 directly owned 7,572 shares in the company, valued at $1,084,916.16. This represents a 27.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.11% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.

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