Buffington Mohr McNeal Has $843,000 Stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Buffington Mohr McNeal reduced its holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 27.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 6,900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,600 shares during the quarter. Buffington Mohr McNeal’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $843,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. MV Capital Management Inc. increased its position in American Water Works by 110.8% in the 4th quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 196 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of American Water Works in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. ORG Partners LLC lifted its position in American Water Works by 79.2% during the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 233 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in American Water Works by 71.9% during the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 239 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its position in American Water Works by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 254 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Water Works Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of AWK stock traded up $0.75 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $128.51. The company had a trading volume of 665,348 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,374,835. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $113.34 and a 1-year high of $151.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $25.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.08, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a 50 day moving average of $129.22 and a 200 day moving average of $125.48.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.98 by ($0.03). The company 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.91 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.24 EPS for the current year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 14th were paid a $0.765 dividend. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 13th. This is an increase from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.07%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on AWK shares. UBS Group boosted 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 report on Monday, May 13th. StockNews.com cut American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Water Works presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $141.33.

American Water Works 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.