Everett Harris & Co. CA Decreases Stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Everett Harris & Co. CA reduced its holdings in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 1.2% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 302,096 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,550 shares during the period. Everett Harris & Co. CA’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $36,919,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AWK. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of American Water Works by 1.1% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,974,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $368,336,000 after acquiring an additional 32,975 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its position in American Water Works by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,624,871 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $325,038,000 after purchasing an additional 118,221 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in American Water Works by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,143,437 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $261,949,000 after buying an additional 25,887 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of American Water Works during the 4th quarter valued at $275,476,000. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 945.5% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 1,806,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $238,397,000 after buying an additional 1,633,389 shares during the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AWK has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on American Water Works from $124.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. StockNews.com lowered shares of American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $141.33.

American Water Works Stock Performance

NYSE:AWK traded down $0.50 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $127.96. 402,683 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 909,982. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $129.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $125.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a one year low of $113.34 and a one year high of $151.22. The firm has a market cap of $24.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.67.

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). American Water Works had a net margin of 22.27% and a return on equity of 9.74%. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $962.30 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.91 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 14th were given a dividend of $0.765 per share. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend 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 was Monday, May 13th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.07%.

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.