M&G Plc Cuts Stock Holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

M&G Plc reduced its position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 13.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 768,232 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 122,654 shares during the period. M&G Plc owned approximately 0.39% of American Water Works worth $99,102,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in American Water Works by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 59,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,822,000 after buying an additional 1,992 shares in the last quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in American Water Works in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in American Water Works by 59.0% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,574 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $472,000 after buying an additional 1,326 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in American Water Works by 64.7% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 151,115 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $19,946,000 after buying an additional 59,341 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new position in American Water Works in the fourth quarter valued at about $359,000. 86.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AWK has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of American Water Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $127.00 to $138.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of American Water Works from $124.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Water Works currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $141.17.

American Water Works Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE AWK traded down $0.40 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $141.39. 873,208 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,285,352. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $113.34 and a 1-year high of $149.00. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $135.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $127.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.55 billion, a PE ratio of 28.92, a PEG ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.64.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by ($0.05). American Water Works had a return on equity of 9.60% and a net margin of 21.93%. The firm had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.44 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.765 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.16%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.07%.

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.