Ascent Group LLC Buys 783 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Ascent Group LLC grew its stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 7.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,496 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 783 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $1,405,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in American Water Works during the fourth quarter valued at $275,476,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its position 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 valued at $238,397,000 after purchasing an additional 1,633,389 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc acquired a new stake in American Water Works during the first quarter worth approximately $108,688,000. Boston Partners bought a new stake in American Water Works in the fourth quarter worth approximately $92,838,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in 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 valued at $3,012,272,000 after buying an additional 624,977 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Stock Down 0.2 %

AWK stock traded down $0.29 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $141.42. 748,285 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,304,957. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $132.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $126.02. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $113.34 and a 52 week high of $148.20. The company has a market cap of $27.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.67, a P/E/G ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.67.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted 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). American Water Works had a return on equity of 9.74% and a net margin of 22.27%. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $962.30 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.24 earnings per share 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 represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. This is an increase from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is 62.07%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AWK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $124.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. StockNews.com lowered shares of American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.80.

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.