Mirador Capital Partners LP Buys 586 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Mirador Capital Partners LP boosted its holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 8.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,399 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 586 shares during the period. Mirador Capital Partners LP’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $904,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in American Water Works by 1.1% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,974,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $368,336,000 after purchasing an additional 32,975 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of American Water Works by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,624,871 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $325,038,000 after acquiring an additional 118,221 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,117,550 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $279,495,000 after buying an additional 117,170 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the 4th quarter worth about $275,476,000. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted 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 buying an additional 1,633,389 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $124.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.33.

American Water Works Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AWK traded up $0.63 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $129.79. The stock had a trading volume of 34,798 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,374,652. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $129.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $125.52. The company has a market capitalization of $25.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.67. 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 fifty-two week low of $113.34 and a fifty-two week high of $151.22.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.95 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $962.30 million. American Water Works had a net margin of 22.27% and a return on equity of 9.74%. American Water Works’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.91 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 14th were issued a dividend of $0.765 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 13th. This is a positive change from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.36%. American Water Works’s payout ratio is 62.07%.

About American Water Works

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.