American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Shares Sold by Gabelli Funds LLC

Gabelli Funds LLC lessened its stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 0.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 129,900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,199 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC owned 0.07% of American Water Works worth $15,875,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AWK. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position 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 worth $3,012,272,000 after purchasing an additional 624,977 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in American Water Works by 1.2% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,143,437 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $261,949,000 after purchasing an additional 25,887 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in American Water Works during the fourth quarter worth approximately $275,476,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its position in American Water Works by 945.5% during the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 1,633,389 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its position in American Water Works by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 1,320,042 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $174,232,000 after purchasing an additional 86,234 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AWK traded up $1.61 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $141.71. The stock had a trading volume of 645,036 shares, compared to its average volume of 796,334. The company has a market capitalization of $27.61 billion, a PE ratio of 28.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.67. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $132.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $126.07. 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 quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

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 firm had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $962.30 million. American Water Works had a net margin of 22.27% and a return on equity of 9.74%. The business’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.91 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect 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 $0.765 dividend. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 13th. This is a boost from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.07%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on AWK shares. UBS Group increased their price target on 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 downgraded American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.80.

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.