Kentucky Retirement Systems Sells 792 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Kentucky Retirement Systems decreased its holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 5.1% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 14,786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 792 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in American Water Works were worth $1,807,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in American Water Works by 2.6% in 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 last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,143,437 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $261,949,000 after purchasing an additional 25,887 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in American Water Works during the 4th quarter worth approximately $275,476,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its stake in American Water Works by 945.5% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 1,806,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $238,397,000 after purchasing an additional 1,633,389 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its position in American Water Works by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 1,320,042 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $174,232,000 after buying an additional 86,234 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AWK. StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. UBS Group upped their target price on American Water Works from $124.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.80.

American Water Works Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of AWK stock traded up $1.61 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $141.71. 645,036 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 796,334. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $113.34 and a 12 month high of $151.22. The stock has a market cap of $27.61 billion, a PE ratio of 28.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.67. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $132.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $126.07.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.95 earnings per share 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 net margin of 22.27% and a return on equity of 9.74%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.91 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.24 EPS for the current year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 14th were issued a $0.765 dividend. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.16%. This is an increase from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 13th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.