Wesbanco Bank Inc. Has $11.23 Million Stock Position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Wesbanco Bank Inc. lowered its stake in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 1.8% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 76,131 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,361 shares during the quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $11,231,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the 4th quarter worth about $294,524,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 120.7% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,174,395 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $395,180,000 after buying an additional 1,736,258 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 38.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,695,734 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $335,592,000 after buying an additional 747,316 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 20,534.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 615,306 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $90,770,000 after purchasing an additional 612,324 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in American Water Works in the 4th quarter valued at $71,120,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Water Works news, CAO Melissa K. Wikle sold 2,825 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.28, for a total transaction of $404,766.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,572 shares in the company, valued at $1,084,916.16. This trade represents a 27.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.11% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

American Water Works Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of AWK stock opened at $140.04 on Monday. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $118.74 and a 12 month high of $155.50. The stock has a market cap of $27.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $143.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $135.68.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 22.44%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.95 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th were given a $0.8275 dividend. This is a positive change from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 13th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AWK has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $142.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Barclays started coverage on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an “underweight” rating and a $138.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group lowered shares of American Water Works from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of American Water Works from $139.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $143.22.

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.