Whittier Trust Co. Decreases Position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Whittier Trust Co. decreased its position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 67,483 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $9,868,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its position in shares of American Water Works by 12,816.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,464,674 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $189,177,000 after buying an additional 1,453,334 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc bought a new position in American Water Works during the first quarter worth about $108,688,000. 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 purchasing an additional 624,977 shares in the last quarter. Nuance Investments LLC raised its position in shares of American Water Works by 70.3% in the first quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 958,309 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $117,115,000 after purchasing an additional 395,684 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 201.9% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 435,604 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $56,264,000 after buying an additional 291,315 shares during the period. 86.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American Water Works Stock Down 0.6 %

AWK opened at $141.05 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $143.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $135.24. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $113.34 and a 52 week high of $150.68. 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 cap of $27.48 billion, a PE ratio of 28.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.69.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.47 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.44 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 13th were issued a dividend of $0.765 per share. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 13th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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 transaction of $101,423.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 36,880 shares in the company, valued at $5,268,308. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on AWK. Wolfe Research upgraded American Water Works to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of American Water Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $127.00 to $138.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $140.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a report on Friday, September 20th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $124.00 price target for the company. Finally, Mizuho lowered American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $131.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock 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.