American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Shares Sold by Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co

Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co decreased its holdings in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 7.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 864 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $1,329,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of American Water Works by 2.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,648,326 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,012,272,000 after buying an additional 624,977 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its position in American Water Works by 153.8% during the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 13,640 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,667,000 after acquiring an additional 8,266 shares during the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP lifted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 202.2% in the first quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 46,633 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,699,000 after purchasing an additional 31,203 shares in the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its stake in 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 valued at $238,397,000 after buying an additional 1,633,389 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parsifal Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the fourth quarter valued at $44,441,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AWK traded down $1.21 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $142.46. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,123,983 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,300,589. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.85. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $113.34 and a 1-year high of $148.20. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $132.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $126.17. The firm has a market cap of $27.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.81, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.67.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.95 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 analyst estimates of $962.30 million. American Water Works had a net margin of 22.27% and a return on equity of 9.74%. The business’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.765 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. American Water Works’s payout ratio is currently 62.07%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AWK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded American Water Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $127.00 to $138.00 in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of American Water Works from $124.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. Finally, StockNews.com cut American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, American Water Works currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $141.17.

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.