LWS Wealth Advisors Inc. Invests $484,000 in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

LWS Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 3,666 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $484,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. MV Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in American Water Works by 110.8% during the 4th quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 196 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of American Water Works by 79.2% during the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 233 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Key Financial Inc raised its stake in American Water Works by 266.7% in the 4th quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 275 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Trust Company N.A bought a new stake in American Water Works in the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on AWK. Evercore ISI lowered American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $160.00 to $135.00 in a report on Friday, February 16th. UBS Group increased their target price on American Water Works from $124.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, American Water Works currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.33.

Insider Transactions at American Water Works

In other news, EVP Melanie M. Kennedy sold 843 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.59, for a total value of $100,814.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,240 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,942,141.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Stock Performance

Shares of AWK traded down $5.15 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $128.60. The stock had a trading volume of 1,031,816 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,458,370. The firm has a market cap of $25.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.12, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.62. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $123.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $125.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.79. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $113.34 and a 52 week high of $151.22.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.98 by ($0.03). American Water Works had a return on equity of 9.74% and a net margin of 22.27%. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $962.30 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. American Water Works’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.24 EPS for the current year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 14th will be issued a $0.765 dividend. This is a boost from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 13th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.07%.

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.