Saxony Capital Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Saxony Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 17.7% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 8,163 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,751 shares during the quarter. American Water Works makes up 1.1% of Saxony Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Saxony Capital Management LLC’s holdings in American Water Works were worth $1,194,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. ORG Partners LLC purchased a new stake in American Water Works during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new stake in American Water Works in the first quarter worth approximately $41,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in American Water Works in the second quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its stake in American Water Works by 260.2% during the 1st quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 389 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on AWK shares. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Mizuho downgraded American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $131.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $164.00 price objective on shares of American Water Works in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of American Water Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $127.00 to $138.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded American Water Works to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $140.00.

American Water Works Price Performance

NYSE AWK opened at $140.76 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.58. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $113.34 and a 1 year high of $150.68. The company has a market cap of $27.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.55, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.69. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $143.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $135.40.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.44 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.27 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 given a $0.765 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.17%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.07%.

Insider Activity

In other American Water Works news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.85, for a total value of $101,423.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 36,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,268,308. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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.