Rhumbline Advisers Increases Stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 439,962 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 9,490 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers owned about 0.23% of American Water Works worth $56,825,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AWK. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Water Works by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,648,326 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,012,272,000 after buying an additional 624,977 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its stake in shares of American Water Works by 153.8% in the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 13,640 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,667,000 after purchasing an additional 8,266 shares in the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP raised its position in shares of American Water Works by 202.2% in the first quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 46,633 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $5,699,000 after purchasing an additional 31,203 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its stake in shares of American Water Works by 945.5% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 1,806,146 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $238,397,000 after buying an additional 1,633,389 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parsifal Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,441,000. 86.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American Water Works Price Performance

Shares of AWK stock traded up $0.27 during trading on Thursday, hitting $144.42. The company had a trading volume of 702,491 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,235,459. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $113.34 and a 52 week high of $149.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The stock's 50-day moving average is $139.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $129.55.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.47 by ($0.05). American Water Works had a net margin of 21.93% and a return on equity of 9.60%. The company had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.44 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were given a dividend of $0.765 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.12%. American Water Works's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.07%.

Insider Activity at American Water Works

In other American Water Works news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.85, for a total value of $101,423.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 36,880 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,268,308. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on AWK shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of American Water Works from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $127.00 to $138.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group upped their price target 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. Two investment 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, American Water Works has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target 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.