American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) Reaches New 1-Year Low at $114.05

Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) hit a new 52-week low during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $114.05 and last traded at $114.15, with a volume of 197760 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $115.98.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AWK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI lowered American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $160.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Friday, February 16th.

American Water Works Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $119.45 and a 200 day moving average of $124.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The company has a market capitalization of $22.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.63.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 9.70% and a net margin of 22.30%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.81 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.24 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Water Works

In other American Water Works news, EVP Melanie M. Kennedy sold 843 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 available through this link. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Water Works

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in American Water Works by 1.0% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 8,088 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,053,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Diversified LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Diversified LLC now owns 2,547 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $336,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 1.8% during the second quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 4,548 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $649,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 1,809 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $239,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 894 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $118,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.