Nicola Wealth Management LTD. Sells 9,000 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Nicola Wealth Management LTD. trimmed its stake in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) by 32.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 9,000 shares during the quarter. Nicola Wealth Management LTD.'s holdings in American Water Works were worth $2,454,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

American Water Works Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AWK traded up $1.30 during trading on Friday, hitting $143.12. 1,833,474 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,242,995. The company has a market cap of $27.88 billion, a PE ratio of 29.03, a P/E/G ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $138.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $128.94. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $113.34 and a 12-month high of $149.00.

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

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.765 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. American Water Works's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.07%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AWK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on American Water Works from $124.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Wells Fargo & Company cut American Water Works from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $127.00 to $138.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $141.17.

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.