Beck Bode LLC Buys New Stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Beck Bode LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 103,645 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $13,387,000. American Water Works accounts for approximately 2.7% of Beck Bode LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Beck Bode LLC owned about 0.05% of American Water Works as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of American Water Works by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,648,326 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,012,272,000 after purchasing an additional 624,977 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its holdings in American Water Works by 153.8% during the 1st quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 13,640 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,667,000 after purchasing an additional 8,266 shares in the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP raised its position in American Water Works by 202.2% in the 1st quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 46,633 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,699,000 after purchasing an additional 31,203 shares during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its position in American Water Works by 945.5% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 1,806,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $238,397,000 after purchasing an additional 1,633,389 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parsifal Capital Management LP acquired a new position in American Water Works in the fourth quarter worth $44,441,000. 86.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company cut 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 report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, American Water Works currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $135.60.

American Water Works Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of AWK opened at $149.88 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $142.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $131.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.40, a PEG ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.69. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $113.34 and a 52 week high of $150.68. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.42 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.44 earnings per share. American Water Works’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.27 earnings per share for the current year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The firm 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 13th. American Water Works’s payout ratio is 62.07%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of American Water Works stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $5,268,308. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.