American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Holdings Lifted by Strong Tower Advisory Services

Strong Tower Advisory Services grew its stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) by 17.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,810 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,371 shares during the period. Strong Tower Advisory Services' holdings in American Water Works were worth $2,251,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of American Water Works by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,012 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $250,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC lifted its holdings in American Water Works by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 8,438 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,051,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Glenview Trust co lifted its holdings in American Water Works by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 4,986 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $621,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in American Water Works by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,241 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $528,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in American Water Works by 54.2% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 293 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on AWK. Wall Street Zen cut American Water Works from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Barclays began coverage on American Water Works in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an "underweight" rating and a $138.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group lowered American Water Works from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on American Water Works from $139.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $143.22.

American Water Works Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of AWK traded up $0.29 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $139.13. The company had a trading volume of 252,515 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,218,465. The stock has a market cap of $27.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.71. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $144.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $135.69. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $118.74 and a fifty-two week high of $155.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last announced 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). American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 22.44%. The business had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.09 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.95 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.38%. This is a positive change from American Water Works's previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. American Water Works's payout ratio is currently 60.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 value of $404,766.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,572 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,084,916.16. This represents a 27.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.