Howland Capital Management LLC Purchases 27,200 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Howland Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 20.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 163,185 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 27,200 shares during the quarter. Howland Capital Management LLC owned 0.08% of American Water Works worth $19,943,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. MV Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in American Water Works by 110.8% during the fourth quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 196 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in American Water Works during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. ORG Partners LLC boosted its position in American Water Works by 79.2% during the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 233 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. boosted its position in American Water Works by 100.0% during the first quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 254 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC boosted its position in American Water Works by 71.9% during the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 239 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on AWK. StockNews.com cut American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on American Water Works from $124.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $141.80.

American Water Works Stock Performance

Shares of AWK traded up $3.99 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $136.22. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,243,255 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,347,358. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $113.34 and a 1-year high of $151.22. The stock has a market cap of $26.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.71, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.67. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $130.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $125.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $962.30 million. American Water Works had a return on equity of 9.74% and a net margin of 22.27%. American Water Works’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.91 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 14th were paid a dividend of $0.765 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 13th. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.25%. This is a positive change from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.07%.

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.