Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Raises Stock Position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 16.2% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 24,597 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,426 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $3,597,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AWK. SVB Wealth LLC bought a new position in American Water Works during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $447,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in American Water Works by 40.8% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,115 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $139,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 25,565 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,183,000 after acquiring an additional 3,645 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in American Water Works in the fourth quarter worth approximately $177,000. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in American Water Works by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 19,739 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,457,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen cut American Water Works from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on American Water Works from $142.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI upped their target price on 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. UBS Group cut American Water Works from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $138.00 price objective for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Water Works has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $143.22.

American Water Works Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of American Water Works stock opened at $140.25 on Thursday. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $118.74 and a 12-month high of $155.50. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $142.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $136.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.55, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.69.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.09 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.35% and a net margin of 22.24%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. Analysts predict that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 EPS for the current year.

American Water Works Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th were issued a dividend of $0.8275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 13th. This is an increase 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 2.36%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is 60.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Melissa K. Wikle sold 2,825 shares of American Water Works stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.28, for a total value of $404,766.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works 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.