Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC Purchases Shares of 5,146 American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 5,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $753,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. ORG Partners LLC purchased a new position in American Water Works during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 100.0% during the first quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 254 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new position in shares of 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 valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its position in American Water Works by 260.2% during the first quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 389 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.85, for a total transaction of $101,423.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 36,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,268,308. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of AWK stock opened at $139.80 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $143.23 and a 200 day moving average of $135.45. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $27.24 billion, a PE ratio of 28.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.69.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by ($0.05). American Water Works had a net margin of 21.93% and a return on equity of 9.60%. The company had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.10 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.44 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.27 earnings per share for the current year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were given a $0.765 dividend. This represents a $3.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 13th. American Water Works’s payout ratio is 62.07%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on AWK shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of American Water Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $127.00 to $138.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Mizuho downgraded American Water Works from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $131.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Wolfe Research upgraded American Water Works to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on American Water Works in a report on Monday, October 7th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $124.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $140.00 target price on shares of American Water Works in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $140.00.

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.