American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Shares Sold by Balentine LLC

Balentine LLC trimmed its position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 48.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,232 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,084 shares during the period. Balentine LLC’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $295,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Diversified LLC raised its stake in shares of American Water Works by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Diversified LLC now owns 2,547 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $336,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management increased its stake in shares of American Water Works by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 1,809 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $239,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 894 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $118,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 0.5% in the third quarter. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp now owns 20,919 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,590,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. grew its position in American Water Works by 110.8% during the 4th quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 196 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at American Water Works

In other American Water Works news, EVP Melanie M. Kennedy sold 843 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was 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 $1,942,141.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Stock Down 0.5 %

AWK opened at $133.70 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $113.34 and a twelve month high of $151.22. The company has a market cap of $26.05 billion, a PE ratio of 27.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $123.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $125.72.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last released its earnings results 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). The firm 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%. The business’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.91 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 14th will be given a $0.765 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 dividend yield of 2.29%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is 62.07%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AWK has been the topic of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI lowered American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $160.00 to $135.00 in a report on Friday, February 16th. UBS Group lifted their target price 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 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 assigned a hold rating and two have given 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 $141.33.

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.