Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Makes New Investment in American Water Works Company, Inc. $AWK

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 35,445 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,601,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AIA Group Ltd raised its holdings in American Water Works by 2,300.1% in the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 66,052 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,552,000 after buying an additional 63,300 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its stake in American Water Works by 1.7% during the third quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 24,446 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,165,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super grew its stake in American Water Works by 99.0% during the third quarter. Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super now owns 40,987 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,307,000 after buying an additional 20,390 shares during the period. MBA Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the third quarter worth $269,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the third quarter worth $6,948,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of AWK traded down $2.00 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $150.42. 3,270,359 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,941,038. The firm has a market cap of $29.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $136.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $132.87. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $120.57 and a 12-month high of $153.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.14% and a net margin of 21.26%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.94 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 6.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 12th will be issued a $0.8950 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 12th. This represents a $3.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. American Water Works’s payout ratio is currently 62.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AWK. Wall Street Zen raised shares of American Water Works from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Truist Financial set a $139.00 price target on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Huntington downgraded American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Mizuho set a $149.00 price objective on American Water Works in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded American Water Works from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.14.

About American Water Works

American Water Works Company, Inc is a U.S. water and wastewater utility that provides services to residential, commercial, industrial, and public-sector customers. Its operations include treating and distributing drinking water, collecting and treating wastewater, and maintaining the infrastructure needed to deliver those services.

The company operates regulated water and wastewater utilities across multiple states, serving communities in regions including the Northeast, Midwest, and South.