American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Stock Holdings Boosted by Corient Private Wealth LLC

Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 10.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 94,996 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,005 shares during the quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $12,539,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. MV Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Water Works by 110.8% in the fourth quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 196 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC increased its position in American Water Works by 79.2% in the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 233 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Key Financial Inc lifted its stake in American Water Works by 266.7% in the fourth quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 275 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Trust Company N.A acquired a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. 86.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on AWK. Evercore ISI lowered shares of American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $160.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Friday, February 16th. StockNews.com cut shares of American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of American Water Works from $124.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.33.

Insider Activity at American Water Works

In other news, EVP Melanie M. Kennedy sold 843 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,942,141.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

American Water Works Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE AWK traded down $0.37 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $128.23. The company had a trading volume of 830,758 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,459,452. 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 capitalization of $24.98 billion, a PE ratio of 26.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $123.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $125.75.

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

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 14th will be paid a $0.765 dividend. This is a boost from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 13th. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.39%. American Water Works’s payout ratio is 62.07%.

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.