SFE Investment Counsel Purchases 7,066 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

SFE Investment Counsel grew its position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 20.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,592 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,066 shares during the quarter. SFE Investment Counsel’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $5,372,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in American Water Works during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. ORG Partners LLC bought a new stake in American Water Works in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its stake in American Water Works by 71.9% during the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 239 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 100.0% during 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. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of American Water Works during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AWK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered American Water Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $127.00 to $138.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group lifted their price target 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.17.

American Water Works Price Performance

Shares of AWK opened at $143.94 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market cap of $28.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.69. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $139.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $129.70. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $113.34 and a 1 year high of $149.00.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.10 billion. American Water Works had a net margin of 21.93% and a return on equity of 9.60%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.26 earnings per share for the current year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were paid a $0.765 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of American Water Works stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.85, for a total transaction of $101,423.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 36,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,268,308. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.08% 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.