Bank of Stockton Sells 363 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Bank of Stockton trimmed its stake in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 9.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,329 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 363 shares during the quarter. Bank of Stockton’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $487,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AWK. ORG Partners LLC bought a new stake in American Water Works during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of American Water Works by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 254 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the 1st quarter worth approximately $41,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its position in shares of American Water Works by 260.2% during the 1st quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 389 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on AWK. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $164.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Mizuho downgraded American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $131.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company cut American Water Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $127.00 to $138.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of American Water Works in a report on Monday, October 7th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $124.00 target price for the company. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $140.00 price target on shares of American Water Works in a report on Friday, September 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $140.00.

American Water Works Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:AWK traded down $0.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $139.53. 80,705 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,194,449. 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 Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $113.34 and a twelve month high of $150.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.36, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.69. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $143.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $135.45.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.42 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 analyst estimates of $1.10 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 9.60% and a net margin of 21.93%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were given a dividend of $0.765 per share. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 13th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.07%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.85, for a total value of $101,423.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 36,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,268,308. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

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.