Vontobel Holding Ltd. Raises Holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) by 7.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 497,983 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 35,752 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. owned approximately 0.26% of American Water Works worth $72,825,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AWK. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its position in American Water Works by 12,816.0% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,464,674 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $189,177,000 after acquiring an additional 1,453,334 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the 1st quarter valued at $108,688,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of American Water Works by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,648,326 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,012,272,000 after purchasing an additional 624,977 shares in the last quarter. Nuance Investments LLC grew its stake in American Water Works by 70.3% during the 1st quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 958,309 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $117,115,000 after buying an additional 395,684 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in American Water Works by 201.9% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 435,604 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $56,264,000 after buying an additional 291,315 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.58% of the company's stock.

American Water Works Trading Up 1.0 %

American Water Works stock traded up $1.38 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $142.58. 651,565 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,211,549. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $143.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $134.63. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $113.34 and a fifty-two week high of $150.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.76, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.69.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.42 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 net margin of 21.93% and a return on equity of 9.60%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.27 EPS for the current year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 13th were issued a $0.765 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. American Water Works's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.07%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Water Works

In other American Water Works news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of the business'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 sale, the director now owns 36,880 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,268,308. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AWK shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of American Water Works from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $127.00 to $138.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and set a $140.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a report on Friday, September 20th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on American Water Works in a research note on Monday, October 7th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $124.00 price target for the company. Wolfe Research raised shares of American Water Works to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $164.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target 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.