American Water Works Company, Inc. $AWK Shares Sold by Ameritas Advisory Services LLC

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC cut its holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 13.1% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,131 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 321 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $296,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AWK. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in American Water Works in the 1st quarter valued at $110,000. Merit Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in American Water Works by 26.8% in the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 4,270 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $630,000 after acquiring an additional 903 shares during the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new position in American Water Works in the 1st quarter valued at $236,000. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC raised its holdings in American Water Works by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 11,154 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,645,000 after acquiring an additional 572 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. raised its holdings in American Water Works by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 3,321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $490,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Water Works Stock Up 2.5%

Shares of American Water Works stock opened at $142.47 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $140.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $142.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $118.74 and a twelve month high of $155.50. The stock has a market cap of $27.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.70.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.05). American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 21.91%.The business had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.22 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.42 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. American Water Works has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.700-5.750 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.8275 per share. This represents a $3.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 12th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is 59.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AWK. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $156.00 to $151.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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 note on Friday, August 1st. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of 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. Finally, Argus boosted their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Water Works has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.57.

About American Water Works

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.