American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) Shares Sold by Altshuler Shaham Ltd

Altshuler Shaham Ltd lessened its holdings in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 10.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,006 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 224 shares during the quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $265,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AWK. MV Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in American Water Works by 110.8% during the 4th quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 196 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 79.2% in the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 233 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Key Financial Inc lifted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 266.7% in the 4th quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 275 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Trust Company N.A bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on AWK shares. StockNews.com downgraded American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI cut American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $160.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Friday, February 16th.

American Water Works Price Performance

Shares of AWK stock traded up $1.51 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $134.38. 1,300,407 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,494,992. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $113.34 and a twelve month high of $151.24. The firm has a market cap of $26.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.62. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $120.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $124.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.85.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $962.30 million. American Water Works had a return on equity of 9.74% and a net margin of 22.27%. The business’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 14th will be issued a $0.765 dividend. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. This is a boost from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 13th. American Water Works’s payout ratio is presently 57.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Melanie M. Kennedy sold 843 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.59, for a total value of $100,814.37. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,942,141.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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.