Wealthspire Advisors LLC Sells 144 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Wealthspire Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 6.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,946 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 144 shares during the quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $257,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. TIAA Trust National Association bought a new position in American Water Works in the 3rd quarter valued at $344,000. Choate Investment Advisors lifted its position in shares of American Water Works by 82.6% during the 3rd quarter. Choate Investment Advisors now owns 12,489 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,547,000 after buying an additional 5,651 shares during the last quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Water Works during the 3rd quarter valued at $270,000. Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of American Water Works by 14.4% during the 3rd quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 32,923 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,077,000 after buying an additional 4,149 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of American Water Works by 17.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,213 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,017,000 after buying an additional 1,248 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Stock Performance

Shares of AWK opened at $135.50 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $120.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $124.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.62. 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 52-week low of $113.34 and a 52-week high of $151.24.

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

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 14th will be paid a $0.765 dividend. 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 2.26%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 13th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.07%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AWK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com cut American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI cut American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $160.00 to $135.00 in a report on Friday, February 16th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.