American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Shares Purchased by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 26.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 189,198 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 39,054 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.10% of American Water Works worth $26,963,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its stake in American Water Works by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 4,112 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $587,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of American Water Works by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,006,826 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $143,724,000 after purchasing an additional 11,085 shares in the last quarter. Summit X LLC grew its stake in shares of American Water Works by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Summit X LLC now owns 6,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $943,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 663,301 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $94,680,000 after purchasing an additional 27,775 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Veritable L.P. increased its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 5.9% in the second quarter. Veritable L.P. now owns 5,596 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $799,000 after buying an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. 84.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AWK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho lifted their target price on American Water Works from $134.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 7th. Guggenheim decreased their target price on shares of American Water Works from $147.00 to $126.00 in a report on Monday, October 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $169.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Thursday, September 14th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “sell” rating on the stock.

American Water Works Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AWK opened at $130.67 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $25.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.63. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $114.25 and a 1 year high of $162.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $125.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $137.04.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 9.99% and a net margin of 22.26%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.63 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 4.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.7075 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 13th. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.71%.

Insider Activity at American Water Works

In other American Water Works news, Director Michael Marberry bought 3,786 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $130.20 per share, with a total value of $492,937.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $971,161.80. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.08% of the stock is 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 1,600 communities in 14 states serving approximately 3.4 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.