6,279 American Water Works Company, Inc. $AWK Shares Bought by Commonwealth Equity Services LLC

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 11.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 61,329 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,279 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $8,253,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AWK. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in American Water Works by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,199 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $158,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of American Water Works by 21.1% in the 3rd quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 453 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the period. Independence Bank of Kentucky raised its stake in American Water Works by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 1,233 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $160,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank raised its stake in American Water Works by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 2,945 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $381,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Center for Financial Planning Inc. lifted its position in American Water Works by 43.5% during the 3rd quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 287 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Water Works Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of AWK stock opened at $149.55 on Friday. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $120.57 and a fifty-two week high of $153.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.39. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $137.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $133.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.18, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.56.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by ($0.04). American Water Works had a net margin of 21.26% and a return on equity of 10.14%. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.94 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 6.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 12th will be issued a $0.8950 dividend. This represents a $3.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 12th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.05%.

Key Headlines Impacting American Water Works

These are some of the AWK headlines that stood out recently:

• Positive Sentiment: Argus issued a positive forecast for AWK’s share price, providing a favorable analyst signal. Argus Issues Positive Forecast for American Water Works Stock Price
• Neutral Sentiment: West Virginia American Water announced $580,000 of infrastructure upgrades in Oak Hill. The project reflects ongoing investment in the utility’s system, but its modest scale is unlikely to materially affect company-wide results. West Virginia American Water Announces Oak Hill Upgrades
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent coverage discussed AWK’s dividend, a refreshed customer portal, and website-related signals, but the provided headlines do not indicate a material change to the company’s financial outlook. American Water Works Dividend Analysis American Water Works Refreshes Its Portal

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on AWK. Argus upped their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of American Water Works from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 19th. Huntington downgraded shares of American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 5th. Weiss Ratings raised American Water Works from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, November 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial set a $139.00 price objective on American Water Works in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $144.12.

American Water Works Company Profile

American Water Works Company, Inc. is a U.S. water and wastewater utility that provides services to residential, commercial, industrial, and public-sector customers. Its operations include treating and distributing drinking water, collecting and treating wastewater, and maintaining the infrastructure needed to deliver those services. The company operates regulated water and wastewater utilities across multiple states, serving communities in regions including the Northeast, Midwest, and South. Through contracted operations, it also provides water and wastewater services to certain military installations and municipal customers.