American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Shares Sold by Gateway Investment Advisers LLC

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC trimmed its stake in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) by 22.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 109,427 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 30,848 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC owned 0.06% of American Water Works worth $16,003,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of American Water Works in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. ORG Partners LLC purchased a new position in American Water Works in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in 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 last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 100.0% during the first quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 254 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at American Water Works

In other news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.85, for a total transaction of $101,423.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,880 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,268,308. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction 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 corporate insiders.

American Water Works Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE AWK traded up $2.65 during trading on Friday, reaching $138.87. The stock had a trading volume of 689,286 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,219,427. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.64. The company has a market cap of $27.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.28, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.69. The business's 50-day moving average price is $143.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $134.16. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $113.34 and a fifty-two week high of $150.68.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $1.47 by ($0.05). The company 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 firm's revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.44 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 13th were paid a dividend of $0.765 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. American Water Works's payout ratio is currently 62.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on AWK. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $164.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on American Water Works in a report on Monday, October 7th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $124.00 target price for the company. Wolfe Research upgraded American Water Works to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Bank of America reissued an "underperform" rating and issued a $140.00 price objective on shares of American Water Works in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $140.00.

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.