Farther Finance Advisors LLC Purchases 724 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 45.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,326 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 724 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $342,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AWK. M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in American Water Works by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 65,249 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,123,000 after buying an additional 2,113 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in American Water Works during the fourth quarter valued at $1,715,000. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works during the 4th quarter valued at $373,000. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its position in shares of American Water Works by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 6,235 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $776,000 after buying an additional 557 shares during the period. Finally, Redmond Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the 4th quarter worth about $856,000. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AWK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of American Water Works from $142.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI raised their target price on American Water Works from $139.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group downgraded shares of American Water Works from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Barclays started coverage on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $138.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $143.22.

American Water Works Stock Up 0.3%

AWK stock opened at $140.85 on Wednesday. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $118.74 and a 52 week high of $155.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $143.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $135.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.71.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.09 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.35% and a net margin of 22.24%. American Water Works’s quarterly revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.95 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th were given a dividend of $0.8275 per share. This represents a $3.31 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 13th. This is a positive change from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. American Water Works’s payout ratio is presently 60.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Water Works news, CAO Melissa K. Wikle sold 2,825 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.28, for a total value of $404,766.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,572 shares in the company, valued at $1,084,916.16. The trade was a 27.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

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.