Nomura Holdings Inc. Acquires Shares of 10,476 American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 10,476 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,304,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in American Water Works during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Providence First Trust Co purchased a new stake in American Water Works during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in American Water Works during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in American Water Works by 54.2% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Banque Transatlantique SA purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. 86.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Water Works Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of AWK opened at $142.54 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $144.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $134.99. The company has a market capitalization of $27.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.35. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $118.74 and a 1-year high of $155.50.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.09 billion. American Water Works had a net margin of 22.44% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.95 earnings per share. Sell-side 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 firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $0.8275 per share. This is a boost from American Water Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AWK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of American Water Works from $139.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of American Water Works in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $138.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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 report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of American Water Works from $147.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $143.22.

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.