Wealthquest Corp Makes New $1.43 Million Investment in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Wealthquest Corp acquired a new position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 9,693 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,430,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AWK. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund raised its position in shares of American Water Works by 1,176.5% in the fourth quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 20,615 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,566,000 after buying an additional 19,000 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $774,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $936,000. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC raised its position in shares of American Water Works by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 4,704 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $586,000 after buying an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sabal Trust CO raised its position in shares of American Water Works by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Sabal Trust CO now owns 177,283 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $22,070,000 after buying an additional 679 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Melissa K. Wikle sold 2,825 shares of American Water Works stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.28, for a total transaction of $404,766.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,572 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,084,916.16. The trade was a 27.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.11% of the company's stock.

American Water Works Stock Performance

Shares of American Water Works stock traded down $1.62 on Thursday, reaching $138.43. 929,893 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,223,370. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $118.74 and a 52 week high of $155.50. The company has a 50 day moving average of $143.08 and a 200 day moving average of $136.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.99 billion, a PE ratio of 25.21, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.71. 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 data 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 net margin of 22.24% and a return on equity of 10.35%. The business had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.95 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th were given 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 dividend yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 13th. American Water Works's payout ratio is 60.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of American Water Works from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Evercore ISI boosted 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 research note on Friday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective 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. Barclays began 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. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of American Water Works from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research 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 given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $143.22.

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.