American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Position Cut by Wellington Management Group LLP

Wellington Management Group LLP lowered its position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) by 26.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 140,219 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 50,754 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned 0.07% of American Water Works worth $17,456,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AWK. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,107,225 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,125,598,000 after acquiring an additional 217,582 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in American Water Works by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,671,050 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $579,981,000 after acquiring an additional 106,857 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its position in American Water Works by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 4,490,423 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $553,687,000 after acquiring an additional 477,411 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in American Water Works by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,357,726 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $418,003,000 after acquiring an additional 335,683 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of American Water Works by 120.7% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,174,395 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $395,180,000 after buying an additional 1,736,258 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.58% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AWK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group downgraded American Water Works from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Evercore ISI upped 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. 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target 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. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an "underweight" rating and a $138.00 price target on the stock. Four 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. According to MarketBeat.com, American Water Works presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $143.22.

American Water Works Trading Down 1.7%

NYSE AWK traded down $2.41 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $139.45. The company's stock had a trading volume of 938,160 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,220,165. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52-week low of $118.74 and a 52-week high of $155.50. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $144.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $135.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.71.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.95 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 EPS for the current year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $3.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.37%. This is an increase from American Water Works's previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. American Water Works's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.29%.

Insider Transactions at American Water Works

In other American Water Works 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 value of $404,766.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,572 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,084,916.16. The trade was a 27.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company's stock.

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.