American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Shares Bought by Covea Finance

Covea Finance grew its position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 39.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 383,167 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 109,200 shares during the period. American Water Works makes up 2.5% of Covea Finance’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest position. Covea Finance owned approximately 0.20% of American Water Works worth $56,034,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in American Water Works in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. ORG Partners LLC purchased a new position in American Water Works during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in American Water Works by 100.0% in the first quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 254 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the period. Tortoise Investment Management LLC boosted its position in American Water Works by 71.9% in the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 239 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on AWK. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $140.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered American Water Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $127.00 to $138.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on American Water Works in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $124.00 price target on the stock. Wolfe Research upgraded American Water Works to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $164.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Water Works currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $140.00.

Insider Activity

In other American Water Works news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of American Water Works stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.85, for a total transaction of $101,423.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,268,308. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Price Performance

AWK traded up $2.65 on Friday, hitting $138.87. 689,286 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,219,427. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $113.34 and a fifty-two week high of $150.68. The stock has a market cap of $27.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.28, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.69. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $143.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $134.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.47 by ($0.05). American Water Works had a net margin of 21.93% and a return on equity of 9.60%. The business had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.44 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.27 earnings per share for the current year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were issued a dividend of $0.765 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.32%.

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.