American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Shares Acquired by Blue Barn Wealth LLC

Blue Barn Wealth LLC lifted its stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 12.3% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,110 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 231 shares during the quarter. Blue Barn Wealth LLC’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $311,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in American Water Works by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,248,263 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,724,624,000 after purchasing an additional 141,038 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 24.1% in the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,532,131 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $668,566,000 after purchasing an additional 878,951 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,357,726 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $418,003,000 after purchasing an additional 335,683 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,142,465 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $391,205,000 after buying an additional 414,568 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in American Water Works by 38.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,695,734 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $335,592,000 after buying an additional 747,316 shares during the period. 86.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Water Works Price Performance

Shares of American Water Works stock opened at $141.87 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.56, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.65. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $141.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $139.49. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $118.74 and a 12 month high of $155.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.32.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.22 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 21.91%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.42 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be paid a $0.8275 dividend. This represents a $3.31 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 12th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Water Works

In related news, CAO Melissa K. Wikle sold 2,825 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The shares were 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 owned 7,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,084,916.16. This represents a 27.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on AWK shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $147.00 to $141.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 1st. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $156.00 price target (up previously from $154.00) on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Mizuho increased their price target on American Water Works from $148.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on American Water Works from $139.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on American Water Works from $138.00 to $128.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Water Works currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $142.00.

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.