New York State Teachers Retirement System Lowers Stock Position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

New York State Teachers Retirement System trimmed its position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 170,963 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 11,745 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.09% of American Water Works worth $25,002,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its position in shares of American Water Works by 12,816.0% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,464,674 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $189,177,000 after purchasing an additional 1,453,334 shares during the period. M&G Plc purchased a new stake in American Water Works during the first quarter valued at $108,688,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in American Water Works by 2.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,648,326 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,012,272,000 after purchasing an additional 624,977 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in American Water Works by 14,944.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 537,987 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $786,750,000 after purchasing an additional 534,411 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuance Investments LLC raised its stake in American Water Works by 70.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Water Works news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 36,880 shares in the company, valued at $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 is available at the SEC website. 0.08% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AWK. Mizuho downgraded shares of American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $131.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Wolfe Research raised shares of American Water Works to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of American Water Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $127.00 to $138.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Monday, October 7th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $124.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $164.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, American Water Works presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $140.00.

American Water Works Trading Up 1.8 %

AWK stock opened at $138.11 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $26.91 billion, a PE ratio of 28.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.69. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $113.34 and a 12 month high of $150.68. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $142.81 and its 200 day moving average is $136.11. 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 (NYSE:AWK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.84 by ($0.04). American Water Works had a return on equity of 9.60% and a net margin of 21.93%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.27 EPS for the current year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.765 per share. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 12th. American Water Works’s payout ratio is 62.32%.

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.