abrdn plc Buys 64,489 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

abrdn plc increased its holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) by 33.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 257,459 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 64,489 shares during the period. abrdn plc owned approximately 0.13% of American Water Works worth $37,195,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its holdings 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 period. M&G Plc bought a new stake in American Water Works during the first quarter valued at about $108,688,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 2.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,648,326 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,012,272,000 after acquiring an additional 624,977 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 14,944.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 537,987 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $786,750,000 after acquiring an additional 534,411 shares during the period. Finally, Nuance Investments LLC boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 70.3% during the first quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 958,309 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $117,115,000 after acquiring an additional 395,684 shares during the period. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AWK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of American Water Works in a report on Monday, October 7th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $124.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of American Water Works from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and increased their target price for the company from $127.00 to $138.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of American Water Works to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Bank of America reiterated an "underperform" rating and issued a $140.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $164.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $140.00.

American Water Works Price Performance

NYSE:AWK traded up $2.42 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $138.11. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,543,651 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,195,528. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $113.34 and a fifty-two week high of $150.68. 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 company has a market capitalization of $26.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.69. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $142.81 and a 200-day moving average of $136.11.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.84 by ($0.04). American Water Works had a return on equity of 9.60% and a net margin of 21.93%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.765 per share. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 12th. American Water Works's payout ratio is 62.32%.

Insider Transactions at American Water Works

In other news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.85, for a total transaction of $101,423.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 36,880 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,268,308. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company's stock.

American Water Works 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.