Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY Takes Position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 1,641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $242,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. PFG Advisors raised its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 33.4% during the 1st quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 9,699 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,431,000 after purchasing an additional 2,429 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in American Water Works by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 124,352 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $18,344,000 after buying an additional 2,570 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its stake in American Water Works by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 10,547 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,556,000 after buying an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in American Water Works by 45.2% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,326 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $342,000 after buying an additional 724 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its stake in American Water Works by 21.5% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 7,692 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,135,000 after buying an additional 1,359 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on AWK shares. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of American Water Works from $138.00 to $128.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of American Water Works from $139.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of American Water Works from $148.00 to $149.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of American Water Works from $147.00 to $141.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Water Works has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $142.00.

Insider Activity at American Water Works

In other news, CAO Melissa K. Wikle sold 2,825 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.28, for a total transaction of $404,766.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,084,916.16. This trade represents a 27.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Stock Performance

NYSE AWK opened at $145.29 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.65. The company’s fifty day moving average is $141.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $139.99. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52-week low of $118.74 and a 52-week high of $155.50.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.22 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 21.91%. American Water Works’s revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.42 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 EPS for the current year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.8275 per share. This represents a $3.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 12th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.64%.

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.