Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC Has $6.33 Million Position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) by 16.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 50,838 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 7,193 shares during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC's holdings in American Water Works were worth $6,329,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 1.0% in the 3rd 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. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in American Water Works in the fourth quarter valued at $419,000. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in American Water Works by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,857 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $231,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 768 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Red Spruce Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 11.3% in the 4th quarter. Red Spruce Capital LLC now owns 18,995 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,365,000 after purchasing an additional 1,932 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of 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. UBS Group lowered shares of American Water Works from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of American Water Works in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an "underweight" rating and a $138.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com lowered American Water Works from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $143.22.

American Water Works Price Performance

AWK opened at $143.43 on Thursday. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a one year low of $118.74 and a one year high of $155.50. 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 company's 50 day simple moving average is $144.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $135.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.73.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last posted 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). The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 22.44%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.95 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be paid a $0.8275 dividend. This represents a $3.31 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. This is a positive change from American Water Works's previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. American Water Works's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.29%.

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.

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