Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Purchases 4,973 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) by 1.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 445,289 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,973 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned about 0.23% of American Water Works worth $65,689,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AWK. Summit Financial LLC raised its position in shares of American Water Works by 1.1% in the 4th 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 period. Glenview Trust co lifted its position in American Water Works by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 4,986 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $621,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in American Water Works by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,241 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $528,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 54.2% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 293 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Finally, Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC boosted its position in American Water Works by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 4,112 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $512,000 after buying an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AWK. Barclays began coverage on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an "underweight" rating and a $138.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen cut American Water Works from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on American Water Works from $142.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of 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, UBS Group lowered shares of American Water Works from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Four research 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Water Works currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $143.22.

American Water Works Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of AWK traded down $2.31 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $140.25. 1,205,683 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,232,048. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $27.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.55, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.69. The business's 50-day moving average price is $142.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $136.48. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $118.74 and a 1 year high of $155.50.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 analysts' expectations of $1.09 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.35% and a net margin of 22.24%. The firm's revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.95 EPS. As a group, 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 business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th were paid a dividend of $0.8275 per share. This is a boost from American Water Works's previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $3.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.36%. American Water Works's payout ratio is presently 60.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Melissa K. Wikle sold 2,825 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.28, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 27.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.11% of the company's stock.

American Water Works Company 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.