AXS Investments LLC Boosts Stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

AXS Investments LLC raised its position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,476 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 496 shares during the quarter. AXS Investments LLC’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $1,251,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of American Water Works during the fourth quarter worth approximately $275,476,000. Boston Partners acquired a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the fourth quarter worth $92,838,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 477,235 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised 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 purchasing an additional 460,262 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC raised 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 purchasing an additional 310,214 shares during the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly 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 available through this link. 0.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American Water Works Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE:AWK traded down $0.80 on Friday, hitting $127.80. The stock had a trading volume of 348,394 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,447,265. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market cap of $24.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.09, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $123.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $125.74. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $113.34 and a 1-year high of $151.22.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $962.30 million. American Water Works had a net margin of 22.27% and a return on equity of 9.74%. American Water Works’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.91 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.24 earnings per share 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 paid a $0.765 dividend. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.39%. This is an increase from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 13th. American Water Works’s payout ratio is 62.07%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.