American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Stake Lessened by DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale cut its holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 324,866 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 45,416 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale owned 0.17% of American Water Works worth $46,871,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its position in shares of American Water Works by 12,816.0% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,464,674 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $189,177,000 after acquiring an additional 1,453,334 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc acquired a new position in shares of American Water Works in the 1st quarter valued at $108,688,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake 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 period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 14,944.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 537,987 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $786,750,000 after buying an additional 534,411 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuance Investments LLC raised its position in shares of American Water Works by 70.3% in 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 period. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on AWK shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on American Water Works in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $124.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $164.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Wolfe Research raised shares of American Water Works to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of 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. Finally, Bank of America reissued an "underperform" rating and issued a $140.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Four 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $140.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 transaction of $101,423.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 36,880 shares in the company, valued at $5,268,308. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

American Water Works Stock Down 2.1 %

NYSE AWK traded down $2.97 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $135.82. 1,054,622 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,193,215. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $113.34 and a 1-year high of $150.68. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $142.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $136.10. The company has a market cap of $26.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.69.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.42 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.27 EPS for the current year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.765 per share. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.25%. American Water Works's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.32%.

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.