Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Has $15.99 Million Position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. reduced its stake in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 16.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 123,807 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 24,290 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. owned 0.06% of American Water Works worth $15,991,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AWK. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in American Water Works by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,648,326 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,012,272,000 after buying an additional 624,977 shares in the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 3.7% during the second quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 6,902,257 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $890,422,000 after acquiring an additional 247,745 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 1.2% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,143,437 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $261,949,000 after acquiring an additional 25,887 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of American Water Works in the 4th quarter worth $275,476,000. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its position in American Water Works by 945.5% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 1,806,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $238,397,000 after purchasing an additional 1,633,389 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.58% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Martha Clark Goss sold 710 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was 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 directly owns 36,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,268,308. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

American Water Works Stock Up 0.7 %

AWK stock opened at $148.13 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $141.76 and its 200-day moving average is $130.83. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $113.34 and a twelve month high of $149.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.86 billion, a PE ratio of 30.05, a P/E/G ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

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

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were paid a $0.765 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.07%. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.07%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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 note on Wednesday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $135.60.

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.