American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Shares Acquired by First National Corp MA ADV

First National Corp MA ADV lifted its holdings in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 82.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,482 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,426 shares during the quarter. First National Corp MA ADV’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $2,431,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Procyon Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of American Water Works by 5.9% during the first quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 2,502 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $369,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. Cora Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the first quarter worth approximately $224,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its stake in shares of American Water Works by 22.8% during the first quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 11,923 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,759,000 after buying an additional 2,214 shares during the period. Bridge Creek Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of American Water Works by 1.4% during the first quarter. Bridge Creek Capital Management LLC now owns 23,094 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,407,000 after buying an additional 330 shares during the period. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of American Water Works by 26.8% during the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 4,270 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $630,000 after buying an additional 903 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Stock Performance

Shares of AWK opened at $140.04 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market cap of $27.31 billion, a PE ratio of 25.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.71. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $143.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $135.72. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $118.74 and a 12-month high of $155.50.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.09 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 22.44%. The business’s revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 EPS for the current year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th were given a dividend of $0.8275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 13th. This is a positive change from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.36%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.29%.

Insider Transactions at American Water Works

In related news, CAO Melissa K. Wikle sold 2,825 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.28, for a total transaction of $404,766.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,084,916.16. This trade represents a 27.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on AWK. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. UBS Group lowered shares of American Water Works from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of American Water Works from $139.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of American Water Works from $142.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Barclays began coverage on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $138.00 price target on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.22.

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.