Wells Fargo & Company MN Acquires 86,234 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its holdings in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 7.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,320,042 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 86,234 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $174,232,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AWK. Norges Bank bought a new position in American Water Works during the fourth quarter worth about $275,476,000. Boston Partners bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the fourth quarter worth approximately $92,838,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 7,752.4% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 483,391 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $63,803,000 after acquiring an additional 477,235 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 12,606.5% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 463,913 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $612,320,000 after acquiring an additional 460,262 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 1,173.5% during the third quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 336,650 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,687,000 after acquiring an additional 310,214 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of AWK opened at $134.37 on Wednesday. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a one year low of $113.34 and a one year high of $151.22. The company has a market cap of $26.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $122.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $125.66.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.98 by ($0.03). American Water Works had a net margin of 22.27% and a return on equity of 9.74%. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $962.30 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.765 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 13th. This is an increase from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.28%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is 62.07%.

Insider Transactions at American Water Works

In other news, EVP Melanie M. Kennedy sold 843 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.59, for a total transaction of $100,814.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,240 shares in the company, valued at $1,942,141.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AWK shares. Evercore ISI cut American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $160.00 to $135.00 in a report on Friday, February 16th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on American Water Works from $124.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. Finally, StockNews.com cut American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.33.

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.