IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd Sells 14,637 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd trimmed its stake in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) by 46.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,836 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 14,637 shares during the quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd's holdings in American Water Works were worth $2,462,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. ORG Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of American Water Works by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 254 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the 1st quarter worth approximately $41,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its position in shares of American Water Works by 260.2% in the 1st quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 389 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America reiterated an "underperform" rating and issued a $140.00 price objective on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Wolfe Research upgraded American Water Works to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $164.00 price target on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Wells Fargo & Company cut American Water Works from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $127.00 to $138.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, 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 on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Water Works has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $140.00.

American Water Works Stock Down 1.3 %

American Water Works stock traded down $1.79 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $140.79. The company had a trading volume of 565,783 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,208,337. 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 moving average price is $143.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $134.69. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $113.34 and a 12 month high of $150.68. The company has a market capitalization of $27.43 billion, a PE ratio of 28.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.69.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last released its 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). American Water Works had a return on equity of 9.60% and a net margin of 21.93%. The company had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.10 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were issued a dividend of $0.765 per share. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 13th. American Water Works's payout ratio is currently 62.07%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.85, for a total transaction of $101,423.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,880 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,268,308. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company's stock.

American Water Works Company Profile

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.