Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. Lowers Holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. trimmed its position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 6.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,106 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 141 shares during the period. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $257,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MV Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in American Water Works by 110.8% in the fourth quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 196 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in American Water Works in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. ORG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in American Water Works by 79.2% in the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 233 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Tortoise Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in American Water Works by 71.9% in the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 239 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in American Water Works by 100.0% in the first quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 254 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com downgraded American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of American Water Works from $124.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $141.80.

American Water Works Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE AWK opened at $142.40 on Thursday. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $113.34 and a 12 month high of $151.22. The company has a 50-day moving average of $131.90 and a 200-day moving average of $125.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The company has a market cap of $27.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.88, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.67.

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

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 14th were given a dividend of $0.765 per share. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 13th. This is an increase from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is 62.07%.

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.