American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Shares Sold by Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC cut its stake in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 118,050 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 318 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $15,247,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in American Water Works by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,648,326 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,012,272,000 after acquiring an additional 624,977 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of American Water Works by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,143,437 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $261,949,000 after purchasing an additional 25,887 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of American Water Works in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $275,476,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,633,389 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its position in shares of American Water Works by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 1,320,042 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $174,232,000 after purchasing an additional 86,234 shares in the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Water Works Stock Performance

AWK traded up $1.25 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $142.64. 147,920 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,278,061. The stock has a market cap of $27.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.68, a PEG ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.67. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $135.43 and a 200 day moving average of $127.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $113.34 and a 52 week high of $149.00.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.10 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 9.60% and a net margin of 21.93%. American Water Works’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.44 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th will be given 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.07%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AWK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group upped their target price on American Water Works from $124.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered American Water Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $127.00 to $138.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Water Works currently has an average 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.