31,000 Shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. $AWK Purchased by Inspire Trust Co. N.A.

Inspire Trust Co. N.A. bought a new stake in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 31,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,014,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 6.6% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,199 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $158,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 21.1% in the third quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 453 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 6.9% in the third quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 1,233 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $160,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in American Water Works by 20.3% in the third quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 480 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank grew its position in American Water Works by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 2,945 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $381,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Stock Performance

AWK opened at $150.26 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.04, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a fifty day moving average of $137.20 and a 200 day moving average of $133.05. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $120.57 and a fifty-two week high of $153.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.39.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by ($0.04). American Water Works had a net margin of 21.26% and a return on equity of 10.14%. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.94 earnings per share. American Water Works’s quarterly revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 6.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 12th will be issued a $0.8950 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 12th. This represents a $3.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.05%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Mizuho set a $149.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Barclays dropped their price target on American Water Works from $130.00 to $127.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 19th. Truist Financial set a $139.00 price target on American Water Works in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of American Water Works in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, UBS Group cut American Water Works from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $153.00 to $162.00 in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $141.14.

American Water Works Company Profile

American Water Works Company, Inc. is a U.S. water and wastewater utility that provides services to residential, commercial, industrial, and public-sector customers. Its operations include treating and distributing drinking water, collecting and treating wastewater, and maintaining the infrastructure needed to deliver those services. The company operates regulated water and wastewater utilities across multiple states, serving communities in regions including the Northeast, Midwest, and South. Through contracted operations, it also provides water and wastewater services to certain military installations and municipal customers.