Vanguard Group Inc. Acquires 624,977 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 2.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 24,648,326 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 624,977 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 12.65% of American Water Works worth $3,012,272,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Duality Advisers LP lifted its position in American Water Works by 202.2% in the 1st quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 46,633 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,699,000 after acquiring an additional 31,203 shares in the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its position in shares of American Water Works by 945.5% during 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 worth $238,397,000 after buying an additional 1,633,389 shares during the period. Parsifal Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of American Water Works during the fourth quarter worth about $44,441,000. Howland Capital Management LLC raised its position in American Water Works by 20.0% in the 1st quarter. Howland Capital Management LLC now owns 163,185 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $19,943,000 after buying an additional 27,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in American Water Works by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 94,996 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,539,000 after acquiring an additional 9,005 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Stock Down 0.1 %

AWK traded down $0.19 during trading on Friday, reaching $141.16. 856,018 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 842,640. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $131.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $125.77. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $113.34 and a twelve month high of $151.22. The stock has a market cap of $27.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.67.

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

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 14th were paid a dividend of $0.765 per share. This is an increase from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 13th. American Water Works’s payout ratio is currently 62.07%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AWK has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of American Water Works from $124.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. StockNews.com lowered shares of American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. One equities research analyst has 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $141.80.

About American Water Works

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.