Kentucky Retirement Systems Decreases Position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Kentucky Retirement Systems decreased its position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 5.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 14,786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 792 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in American Water Works were worth $1,807,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 88,113 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,630,000 after acquiring an additional 6,912 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its stake in American Water Works by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 3,970 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $524,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its holdings in American Water Works by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,061 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $269,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 51.8% during the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 973 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $128,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirador Capital Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 22.5% during the fourth quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 6,813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $899,000 after buying an additional 1,252 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. 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 note on Monday, May 13th. One equities research 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, American Water Works has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.80.

American Water Works Trading Up 1.1 %

American Water Works stock traded up $1.61 during trading on Friday, reaching $141.71. The company had a trading volume of 645,036 shares, compared to its average volume of 796,334. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $113.34 and a 12-month high of $151.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $132.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $126.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.74, a PEG ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.67.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.98 by ($0.03). American Water Works had a net margin of 22.27% and a return on equity of 9.74%. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $962.30 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect 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 $0.765 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 13th. This is an increase from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.16%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is 62.07%.

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.