Vontobel Holding Ltd. Raises Holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 497,983 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 35,752 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. owned about 0.26% of American Water Works worth $72,825,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 2.9% in the third quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 2,790 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $408,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its position in American Water Works by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 5,415 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $699,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. Moody National Bank Trust Division grew its stake in American Water Works by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 4,590 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $593,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 0.5% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 21,123 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,581,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Finally, Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of American Water Works by 25.0% in the third quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 480 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on AWK. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on American Water Works in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $124.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of American Water Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $127.00 to $138.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Mizuho downgraded shares of American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $131.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Wolfe Research raised American Water Works to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective on shares of American Water Works in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $140.00.

American Water Works Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AWK traded up $0.59 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $141.79. 105,525 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,208,819. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $143.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $134.63. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $113.34 and a 1 year high of $150.68. The company has a market cap of $27.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.64, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.64.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted 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). The company had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.10 billion. American Water Works had a net margin of 21.93% and a return on equity of 9.60%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.44 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were paid 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 yield of 2.16%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.07%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Water Works

In related news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.85, for a total transaction of $101,423.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 36,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

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.