Quadrature Capital Ltd Purchases 34,585 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Quadrature Capital Ltd boosted its position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 265.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 47,634 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 34,585 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $5,818,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 1,809 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $239,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in shares of American Water Works by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 538,884 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $71,127,000 after buying an additional 20,288 shares during the period. CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Water Works during the fourth quarter valued at about $48,000. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of American Water Works by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 88,113 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,630,000 after buying an additional 6,912 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of American Water Works by 195.5% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 36,089 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,763,000 after buying an additional 23,876 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of 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 cut shares of American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research 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 given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $141.80.

American Water Works Stock Up 1.1 %

NYSE:AWK traded up $1.61 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $141.71. 645,036 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 796,334. 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $132.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $126.07. The company has a market cap of $27.61 billion, a PE ratio of 28.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.67.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted 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). The business 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 was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.91 EPS. Equities analysts predict that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.24 EPS for the current year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 14th were paid a $0.765 dividend. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 13th. This is an increase from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.07%.

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.