Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 3,688 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $476,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. MV Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of American Water Works by 110.8% during the 4th quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 196 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in American Water Works during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. ORG Partners LLC grew its position in American Water Works by 79.2% in the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 233 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of American Water Works by 71.9% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AWK. UBS Group lifted 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut American Water Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $127.00 to $138.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.17.

American Water Works Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of AWK stock traded up $0.19 on Wednesday, reaching $143.79. 797,349 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,294,266. The company has a market capitalization of $28.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.67. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $113.34 and a 12-month high of $149.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.64. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $134.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $126.72.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.47 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.10 billion. American Water Works had a net margin of 21.93% and a return on equity of 9.60%. The company’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.44 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.25 earnings per share for the current year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th will be given a $0.765 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. American Water Works’s payout ratio is 62.07%.

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.