Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. Sells 5,204 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) by 4.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 109,245 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 5,204 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. owned about 0.06% of American Water Works worth $14,110,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of AWK. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in American Water Works in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. ORG Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Water Works in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 254 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Tortoise Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 71.9% during the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 239 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in American Water Works during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of American Water Works from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $127.00 to $138.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of American Water Works from $124.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $141.17.

American Water Works Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of AWK traded down $0.71 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $140.06. 771,806 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,257,420. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $137.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $128.15. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $113.34 and a 12-month high of $149.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The firm has a market cap of $27.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.67.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.47 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.10 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 9.60% and a net margin of 21.93%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.44 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 13th will be issued a $0.765 dividend. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 13th. American Water Works's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.