Creative Planning Acquires 5,657 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Creative Planning raised its holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 19.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,951 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,657 shares during the quarter. Creative Planning’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $4,514,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AWK. NEOS Investment Management LLC bought a new position in American Water Works in the 4th quarter valued at $283,000. Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 21,729 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,868,000 after buying an additional 1,885 shares during the period. Belpointe Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 144.0% in the 4th quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 4,112 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $543,000 after buying an additional 2,427 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 426,676 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $56,317,000 after buying an additional 4,183 shares during the period. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 17,366 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,292,000 after buying an additional 284 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AWK has been the subject of several research reports. Wolfe Research upgraded American Water Works to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $140.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a report on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company cut American Water Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $127.00 to $138.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $164.00 price objective on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $140.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Water Works

In other news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.85, for a total value of $101,423.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 36,880 shares in the company, valued at $5,268,308. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

American Water Works Trading Down 1.0 %

NYSE:AWK opened at $144.68 on Friday. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $113.34 and a 52 week high of $150.68. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $144.13 and a 200 day moving average of $133.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.35, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.69.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by ($0.05). American Water Works had a net margin of 21.93% and a return on equity of 9.60%. The firm had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.44 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were paid a dividend of $0.765 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. American Water Works’s payout ratio is 62.07%.

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.