Brookstone Capital Management Decreases Stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Brookstone Capital Management cut its holdings in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,560 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 191 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $228,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 624,977 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its stake in American Water Works by 153.8% in 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 in the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP increased its holdings in American Water Works by 202.2% in the first quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 46,633 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,699,000 after buying an additional 31,203 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in American Water Works by 21.6% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 31,283 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,023,000 after buying an additional 5,564 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Howland Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in American Water Works by 20.0% during the 1st quarter. Howland Capital Management LLC now owns 163,185 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $19,943,000 after buying an additional 27,200 shares during the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Water Works Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of American Water Works stock opened at $140.48 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.58. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $113.34 and a 1-year high of $150.68. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $143.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $134.50. The company has a market capitalization of $27.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.49, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.69.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last issued its quarterly 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). The business had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.10 billion. American Water Works had a net margin of 21.93% and a return on equity of 9.60%. American Water Works’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.44 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.27 EPS for the current year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were issued a $0.765 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.18%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.07%.

Insider Activity at American Water Works

In other American Water Works news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.85, for a total value of $101,423.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 36,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,268,308. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AWK shares. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on American Water Works in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $124.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $140.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a report on Friday, September 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $164.00 price objective on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of American Water Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $127.00 to $138.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded American Water Works to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Water Works presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $140.00.

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.