American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Stock Position Decreased by Cornerstone Advisors LLC

Cornerstone Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 5.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,300 shares during the period. Cornerstone Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $2,689,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AWK. Norges Bank acquired a new position in American Water Works during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $275,476,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its stake in American Water Works by 945.5% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 1,806,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $238,397,000 after buying an additional 1,633,389 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc acquired a new position in shares of American Water Works during the first quarter valued at $108,688,000. Boston Partners bought a new position in shares of American Water Works during the fourth quarter worth about $92,838,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 7,752.4% in the 4th 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. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AWK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. 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 research report on Monday, May 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.80.

American Water Works Price Performance

AWK traded down $0.19 on Friday, reaching $141.16. The company had a trading volume of 856,018 shares, compared to its average volume of 842,640. The company has a market capitalization of $27.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.63, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.67. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $131.42 and a 200-day moving average of $125.77. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a one year low of $113.34 and a one year high of $151.22.

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

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 14th were issued a dividend of $0.765 per share. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.17%. This is a boost 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.