AQR Capital Management LLC Increases Stock Position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 21.6% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 31,283 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,564 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $4,023,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AWK. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in American Water Works by 2.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,648,326 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,012,272,000 after purchasing an additional 624,977 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 153.8% during the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 13,640 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,667,000 after purchasing an additional 8,266 shares during the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP boosted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 202.2% in the first quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 46,633 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,699,000 after buying an additional 31,203 shares during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its stake in shares of American Water Works by 945.5% during 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 worth $238,397,000 after purchasing an additional 1,633,389 shares during the period. Finally, Parsifal Capital Management LP acquired a new position in American Water Works in the 4th quarter worth about $44,441,000. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Water Works Stock Down 1.5 %

AWK opened at $142.57 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $27.78 billion, a PE ratio of 28.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.64. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $113.34 and a 1 year high of $150.68. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $144.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $133.60.

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

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 13th were given a dividend of $0.765 per share. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 13th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.07%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of American Water Works stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.85, for a total transaction of $101,423.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 36,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,268,308. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.