Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Purchases 4,933 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 121,782 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,933 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC owned about 0.06% of American Water Works worth $15,161,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC grew its stake in American Water Works by 1.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 376,348 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $55,037,000 after buying an additional 3,560 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 969 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $121,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 16,366 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,037,000 after purchasing an additional 1,791 shares in the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $205,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $67,000. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AWK. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued an "underweight" rating and a $138.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group downgraded American Water Works from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Wall Street Zen cut American Water Works from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on 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. Four equities research 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 a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $143.22.

American Water Works Stock Down 2.1%

American Water Works stock traded down $2.92 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $138.94. The stock had a trading volume of 1,428,298 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,222,244. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.39. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $118.74 and a fifty-two week high of $155.50. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $144.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $135.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.09 billion, a PE ratio of 25.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.71.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.06 by ($0.01). American Water Works had a net margin of 22.44% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The business had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.95 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, 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 issued 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 13th. American Water Works's payout ratio is currently 60.29%.

Insider Transactions at American Water Works

In related news, CAO Melissa K. Wikle sold 2,825 shares of the firm'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 now directly owns 7,572 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,084,916.16. This trade represents a 27.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 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.