HCR Wealth Advisors Grows Position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

HCR Wealth Advisors boosted its stake in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 5.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 27,351 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,478 shares during the period. American Water Works accounts for 0.6% of HCR Wealth Advisors’ portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. HCR Wealth Advisors’ holdings in American Water Works were worth $3,610,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Team Hewins LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Water Works in the fourth quarter valued at $260,000. LWS Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the 4th quarter worth about $484,000. SageView Advisory Group LLC raised its position in shares of American Water Works by 38.4% during the 4th quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 7,914 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $985,000 after buying an additional 2,194 shares in the last quarter. AXS Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. AXS Investments LLC now owns 9,476 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,251,000 after acquiring an additional 496 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FineMark National Bank & Trust grew its position in American Water Works by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. FineMark National Bank & Trust now owns 2,503 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $330,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Water Works Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:AWK traded down $0.32 on Friday, hitting $128.28. 830,349 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,452,152. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.62. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $113.34 and a 12 month high of $151.22. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $123.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $125.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last released 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 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 quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 14th will be given a dividend of $0.765 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 13th. This is a positive change from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.39%. American Water Works’s payout ratio is 62.07%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AWK shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on American Water Works from $124.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $160.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $141.33.

Insider Activity

In other American Water Works news, EVP Melanie M. Kennedy sold 843 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.59, for a total transaction of $100,814.37. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,942,141.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

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.